Bios – Sheila Romalis – Inuit Art Society

Keynote Speaker, IAS 2009 Annual Meeting

Just a quick glance over these selections from Sheila’s CV tells you that she has a wealth of experience and knowledge about Greenland’s Inuit and their various art forms. Her specific area of expertise is the tupilak.

The Greenlandic word, “Tupilak” refers to a traditional malevolent spirit being that was secretly created by an Angagok (shaman) with the sole purpose of killing a person.The East Greenlandic words, Tupilak sculpture or Tupilak carving, refer to a carved form of the sculptor’s image of a supposed spirit being, produced from bone, tooth, wood, stone, horn or antler. » Learn more about these fascinating little carvings.

Up to this point, annual meetings have featured the Canadian Inuit culture, art and artist. However, the IAS is committed to celebrating and learning about all of the arts of the Arctic and Sheila will help us explore the Inuit of Greenland and the art forms that are unique to them.

Citizenship

Canadian

Education

Bachelor of Arts 1967
University of British Columbia
Majors: Art History, Psychology, Religious Studies

Master of Arts, Anthropology 1985
University of British Columbia
Thesis: “Tupilaq: Image and Label: Understanding East Greenland Spirit Carvings”

Papers Presented

Canadian Ethnological Society Meeting, May 1982
Vancouver, British Columbia
Topic: “A Study of Images in East Greenland Tupilaq Figures”

Inuit Studies Conference, October 1982
London, Ontario
Topic: “The East Greenland Tupilaq Image: Old and New Visions”

Publications

Etudes/Inuit/Studies
Mythe et Symbolism /Myth and Symbolism
Vol. 7 No. 1 1983 pp152
“The East Greenland Tupilaq Image; Old and New Visions”

Work Experience

1977–1985: Volunteer for eight years at UBC Museum of Anthropology in School Programmes and Ethnology Divisions.
1978: Co–curator of exhibit entitled “East African Medicine”, January, at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.
1979: One of four student curators for exhibit entitled “Chinese Peasant Textile Arts: Kwangtung and Szechwan Provinces”, UBC Museum of Anthropology.
1980: Summer field study in East Greenland
1981: Summer field study in West Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1982: Summer field study in East and West Greenland, field study in Frobisher Bay (Iqualuit), Baffin Island.
1982–1994: Member of the University of British Columbia Speakers Guild. Presented slide and talk shows of Greenland, Inuit Art, Arctic Peoples and their Material Culture, Circumpolar Peoples–their Culture and Art, or East Greenland Tupilak Figures.
1983: A founding Director of ‘Vancouver Inuit Art Foundation’.
1983: Summer field Study in East Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. July and August.
1984: Guest Curator, Exhibit: “Tupilaq, Greenland Spirit Figures.” Jan – March, UBC Museum of Anthropology.
1985: Lecturer – UBC Extension Programme “Arctic Peoples – Culture and Art”, 6 week series.
1985: Lecturer – Simon Fraser University Extra–Sessional Programming, Fall Programme – “Inuit Culture and Art”, 6 week series.
1986: Summer field Study in East Greenland and Denmark.
1988: Summer Field Research in East Greenland and Denmark.
1990: Summer field Study in East Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1991–1992: Co–curator of 3 Changing Exhibitions With Lecture Programmes. each one “Inuit Sculpture: a Continuing Exhibition”, Granville Island, Vancouver. (also Director of Educational Programming for all 3 exhibits)
1993: Documentation and Ethnographic research for UNESCO sponsored Exhibition, “Arts from the Arctic”, Canadian section, January – March.
1993: Summer field Study in East Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1996: Summer field Study in East Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1997: Summer field Study in East Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1998: Co–curator of Inuit sculpture exhibition at Canada Place, and Director of Educational Programming. (Organized visiting school programmes)
1998: Summer field Study in East Greenland, archival research at National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1998: elected a Director of reconstituted ‘Arctic Art Museum Society’
1999: Summer field study in Ammassalik, Kulusuk and Kuummiut East Greenland, archival research at Natioal Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. Meeting in Copenhagen with Mr. F. Lynge to discuss plans for Aschehoug to publish my book, “Tupilak Image: Greenland’s Spirit Sculptures”
2002: Fieldwork in Ammassalik, Kulusuk, and Kuummiut, East Greenland and Copenhagen, Denmark..
2004: Fieldwork in East Greenland. July
2006: Fieldwork in East Greenland and Copenhagen.
2008: Fieldwork in Tasiilaq and Kulusuk,East Greenland, Reykjavik, Iceland and Denmark.

Lectures

Children’s Literature Conference, April 1981, School of Education, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Topic: “Oral Tradition in East Greenland
1996, September: For Canadian Medical Association meeting, “Canadian Inuit Sculpture, a Contemporary View”.
1998, April: For Vancouver Inuit Art Foundation, “East Greenland Tupilak Figures: Does the Medium Give the Message?”.
2003, October: For annual general meeting of the Arctic Art Museum Society, “Tupilat – East Greenland Spirit Sculptures and Their Creators”.
2005, February: For the Arctic Art Museum Society, “The History and Development of the Tupilak Spirit Figures in East Greenland”.
2006, September: For Simon Fraser University School of Communications – Introduction to Showing of Film, “Palu’s Wedding”, 1933, by Knud Rassmussen, with discussion and talk on East Greenlandic Culture and Material Culture.
2007, January: For Simon Fraser University School of Communications, Introduction and Critique of Film, “Journals of Knud Rassmussen”.
2007, May 29: For Arctic Art Museum Society – “Insights to the Ainu – Japan’s Northern Indigenous People”.
2008, August and September, Curator of Exhibit – “Tupilak Figures – Specific Spirit Beings as Cultural Icon”, with opening lecture and discussion. Vancouver, B.C.