Kinngait Drawings at the McMichael

If you are a fan of Kinngait (Cape Dorset) drawings, you might want to plan a spring or summer trip to Toronto and out to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Two shows are up now that feature drawings by Kinngait artists working between 1959 and the present.

Both exhibits were curated by Emily Laurent Henderson. And both are on display through August 24.

Worlds on Paper: Drawings from Kinngait

Following the digitizing of 90,000 drawings owned by the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative in Kinngait, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection is now sharing some of those drawings in a landmark exhibit.

Worlds on Paper: Drawings From Kinngait includes 200 pieces by 48 artists working between the late 1950s and the 1990s.

While thousands of drawings were created as part of the Cooperative’s print program over the years, only a small number ever became prints. The Cooperative was a business. Managers from outside the community focused on what they thought would most appeal to collectors living far from where these drawings were created. Thus, drawings were selected and modified for printing based on what would sell well in the south, rather than what best spoke for the artists and their community or even what was simply great art.

The McMichael exhibit is chance to see both a few of the original drawings that became prints along with many more that were never printed and have never been seen by the general public.

“This exhibition will reveal overlooked bodies of work by some of the country’s most beloved artists including Kenojuak Ashevak, Pitseolak Ashoona, Kananginak Pootoogook, and Pudlo Pudlat as well as introduce audiences to hitherto unknown artists whose work was suppressed by the aims of the print program that prioritized the tastes of settler markets in the South.”

Curator Henderson notes that these pieces, which were created amidst dramatic social changes, document the community’s adaptability and resilience through sometimes deeply personal art that depicts intergenerational knowledge transfer, community building, and boundless imagination.

Learn more by joining curator Emily Henderson for a virtual tour of Worlds on Paper:

For those looking for a more traditional experience, the McMichael has published a book filled with images of drawings from the exhibit, photographs of many of the artists, and commentary. It looks quite wonderful, but seems unavailable at the moment.

Worlds on Paper: Drawings from Kinngait will be on exhibit through Augst 24.

Dreaming Forward: Contemporary Drawings from Kinngait

Of course, drawings are still being created in Kinngait.

Dreaming Forward is a (much smaller) companion exhibit to Worlds on Paper that reflects on what remains the same and what has changed in recent decades. It includes 23 pieces by artists who offer their own visions of their community as it – and the art created there – continues to evolve.

“From the precise, illustrative style of artists such as Itee Pootoogook and Tim Pitsiulak, to the dreamscapes of Ooloosie Saila and Shuvinai Ashoona, Kinngait artists have continued to innovate with drawing as a medium unto itself—transcending its role as a preparatory step in the printmaking process. The introduction of large-scale works on paper in the 2000s marked a significant evolution in these artists’ practice, as they created their candid and often humorous portrayals of contemporary Inuit life. Rendered in graphite, ink, and coloured pencil, these works depict the rhythms of daily life in Kinngait—prefabricated houses, snowmobiles, and trips to the co-op store—while also capturing the enduring values of cooperation, care, and connection that define the hamlet.”

Dreaming Forward: Contemporary Drawings from Kinngait will be on exhibit through August 24.

Can’t get to the McMichael?

You can now see thousands of drawings from Kinngait on the Iningat Ilagiit digital archive. Learn more about the archive here or dive right into Iningat Ilagiit here.