Inuit art goes on display in Montreal

Last week in Quebec City, Quebec’s native affairs minister, Geoff Kelley, opened the largest exhibition of Inuit art to date in the province.

The exhibition, called “Inuit. When Words Take Shape,” is on display at Quebec’s fine arts museum, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec, which is located within walking distance of Nunavik House in Montreal’s Old Town.

The exhibition drew high praise from European reviewers and tens of thousands of visitors when it was first mounted in Lyon, then Paris and Toulouse, in France,

Reworked in terms of content and design (to incorporate the content of “Miniatures Inuit,” an exhibition that also toured France), “Inuit. When Words Take Shape” will run at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec until May 7.

This exhibition features almost 400 of the most spectacular works of Inuit art from Raymond Brousseau’s collection of Inuit art, acquired last year from his privately-run museum. Included are works by artists Manasie Akpaliapik, Barnabus Arnasungaaq, Mattiusi Iyaituk, Judas Ullulaq, and Lucy Tasseor Tutsweetok, among many others.

“Throughout time, people have felt the need to leave their mark, express their fears to overcome them, and portray their love to celebrate it”, the exhibition catalogue states, quoting Raymond Brousseau, who collected Inuit art over 40 years.