Arctic Council invite-only reception offers showcase for Nunavut artists, designers

Malaya Qaunirq-Chapman, shown above walking a runway in a 2013 Montreal fashion show, will co-host a fashion show featuring Nunavut designers at a private reception to be held at Iqaluit’s Frobisher Inn April 24. (PHOTO COURTESY NUNAVUT ARTS AND CRAFTS ASSOCIATION)

If you live in Iqaluit, unless you’re a politician, you probably won’t be on the guest list — but a private reception for high-ranking ministers and visiting officials from around the circumpolar world — in Iqaluit for the Arctic Council meeting — will be held at the Frobisher Inn April 24.

And those attending this reception will be treated to some of the best art and fashion that Nunavut has to offer.

The event will be a boon to Nunavut artists, especially in Iqaluit, said Justin Ford, the programming director for Nunavut Arts and Crafts.

NACA will feature six Iqaluit artists and their works, reflecting different disciplines, for sale at the reception, Ford told Nunatsiaq News April 22.

“The exposure artists get from an event like this can lead to new markets in different places around the world,” Ford said.

That, in turn, can lead to more tourism for Nunavut as people in different places become intrigued by Inuit art and culture, he said.

For NACA, whose award-winning efforts include holding workshops across Nunavut to develop artists’ skills, the reception gives them a professional development opportunity as well, Ford said.

“Artists will get a chance to really present their work in a professional way — not just laying pieces on a table. They’ll learn that if you can present your work well, make it pop, you have a better chance of selling your work.”

Another event planned for the reception is sure to “pop” as well — that’s a fashion show featuring locally-made sealskin garments designed by Nunavut designers.

Ford will co-host this fashion show with local fashionista Malaya Quanirq-Chapman.

Qaunirq-Chapman, a former Miss Nunavut who is no stranger to a catwalk herself, told Nunatsiaq News that the fashion show will provide an international stage.

The show will blend traditional skills with modern twists, she said.

“The roots of fashion in Nunavut are very Inuk, going back to the very talented Inuit seamstresses, who had to be very resourceful in using anything and everything from the animals we hunt,” Qaunirq-Chapman said.

And people are catching on to Nunavut-made fashion, she added, as everyday garments like amauti parkas are increasingly popular outside the territory.

As for those parts of the world where people may still react negatively to the use of sealskin in fashion, well, Quanirq-Chapman said “they absolutely need to be educated.”

“They need to know we don’t just use the skin. Hunters feed their families with the meat, and everything — down to the toenails and whiskers for jewellery — are used. Nothing is wasted.”

Qaunirq-Chapman said she can someday see a world with widespread Nunavut fashion.

And that may very well start at this fashion show, she added, because the garments modeled will be for sale, with designers on hand who can take measurements.

“This is a perfect chance for other countries to see how beautiful and modern Nunavut, and Nunavut fashion, really is.”