Exploring Cape Dorset Art – February – June

The new year brings a celebration of art and culture of the Inuit people of Cape Dorset (Kinngait) through three distinct exhibitions that bring into light this rich artistic community in the northern territory of Nunavut and its prolific contribution to the documentation of Inuit life and traditions that span over half a century.

As the only community in Canada whose main work force is connected to the arts, Cape Dorset’s creative energies attest to the importance of art-making as an economic base of survival and growth as well as the development and preservation of its culture. Kiugak Ashoona: Stories and Imaginings from Cape Dorset is organized by the Winnipeg Art Gallery and consists of nearly fifty works on paper and sculptures in this solo exhibition that brings much deserved recognition to one of the few remaining “Early Masters” in Inuit art. The exhibition Whales’ Tails and Other Tales: Cape Dorset’s Pudlat Family consists of works by the Pudlat family who have left a rich artistic legacy—thousands of drawings and hundreds of prints exploring the many facets of their community life. The third exhibition, Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going? Identity in Contemporary Cape Dorset Art, curated by Sharona Adamowicz-Clements at the McMichael, highlights the works of leading contemporary Cape Dorset artists who have made huge strides not only in the development of Inuit art, but Canadian art at large.

These three unique exhibitions that form the Exploration of Cape Dorset Art are accompanied by many exhibition-related events and programs and are on display at the McMichael beginning in January and February, 2013 until June 16, 2013.