Dorset co-op unveils special anniversary collection
Collectors of Cape Dorset prints will get a rare treat this week.
IQALUIT — The West Baffin Cooperative launches its special 1999 print collection this weekend, marking the 40th anniversary of its first catalogued print collection.
In honor of the occasion, this year’s collection of 24 Cape Dorset prints features 11 prints that have been in storage for more than 30 years.
“We decided that we would treat the market and collectors, and offer them the rare opportunity to purchase early prints,” said Terry Ryan of Dorset Fine Arts.
According to Ryan, the former Eskimo Art Association used to hold back some prints because their images were too similar to others being marketed during the same year.
These were put into storage, first in Cape Dorset, and then later in Toronto.
The early prints by Angotigaluk, Keeleemeeomee, Kenojuak Ashevak, Kingmeata Etidlooie, Parr, Pitseolak Ashoona and Innukjuakju reflect the early roots of the printmaking.
Their works show the evolution of printmaking in Cape Dorset, from the first selections of intense black and white prints, to today’s works, which employ new etching techniques and colours.
Innukjuakju was the creator of this year’s cover image, “Twilight Owl”, made in 1962. Innukjuakju, who died in 1972, was the wife of the well-known Cape Dorset graphic artist, Pudlo Pudlat.
The anniversary collection is dedicated to Sheojuk Etidlooie, who died unexpectedly in May, 1999.
Sheojuk was born in 1932 and spent her childhood and early adult life living in outpost camps. In 1994, Sheojuk brought some sealskin appliqué work to the co-op and was encouraged to try drawing.
She returned a few days later with a drawing of two owls that was printed and released as “Upinnguaq.” Her works were subsequently featured in other collections.
Last November, Sheojuk traveled to Toronto for a solo gallery exhibition of her work. This trip marked the first time that she had left the North.
“This anniversary collection will regretfully be the last to include images by Sheojuk,” Ryan said.
This weekend, galleries across North America and in Europe will unveil the the 1999 collection. The Northern launch of the Cape Dorset collection takes place in Iqaluit’s Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum on Saturday, October 23, at 1 pm.
The collection will remain on display at the museum until December 5.
In Montreal, the collection’s opening is part of the ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first sale of Inuit art at the Canadian Guild of Crafts.
Ryan, who will speak at the opening in Montreal, said that the market for Dorset prints is still strong.
The prints in the 1999 collection retail from $400 to $2000, but the top price for a Cape Dorset print was the record $20,000 auction sale of a print, “Enchanted Owl,” by Kenoujuak Ashevak.
This print was reproduced on a stamp commemorating the centennial of the Northwest Territories in 1970.
“It’s been phenomenally successful in retrospect,” said Ryan, who first began working with the co-op in 1960. “We only hope that there will be sufficient interest to keep it going another 40 years.”
Now entering its 41st year of operation, the West Baffin Cooperative is the longest continuously running print shop in Canada — and is, in Ryan’s view, a truly “historical studio.”
But its graphic artists are becoming older and fewer in number.
“Regretfully, we’re concerned that the next generation isn’t as active in respect to the graphics,” Ryan said.
He attributes this to the investment of time that graphic artists must make before they can develop a strong following for their work and begin to sell more widely.
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