Our friends at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College in Maine are exhibiting images of monsters of all types in their current exhibit “Northern Nightmares: Monsters in Inuit Art.”
The landscapes and seascapes of the Arctic appear bleak and barren to those unfamiliar with the region, but Inuit know that they teem with life. Sea mammals and fish are abundant beneath the ice, and vast caribou herds graze on the tundra, willing to present themselves to respectful hunters. Inuit also know that among the animals they hunt to feed their families lurk more dangerous creatures. Monsters roam the land and swim in the icy waters, tempting the unwary into dangerous situations, stalking human prey, and even exacting revenge on behalf of malevolent humans.
The exhibit includes depictions of monsters from across the Arctic, however, some of those monsters are familar even to those of us who live far from the Arctic!
“Northern Nightmares” will be on display through March 23, 2025.
Read more about it on the museum’s website or on Antiques and the Arts Weekly (which also has quite a few images).