Low-tech art protection

Nunavut Arctic College has begun marking prints done by students with an embossed stamp as a way to identify and authenticate the work.

The stamp, the college’s okpik logo, was introduced in response to a large-scale art fraud in which Arctic College works were stolen and sold, Arctic College graduate Suzanne Evaloardjuk said.

The raised stamp makes it more difficult for thieves to pass off the work as their own. However, it can only be used on thick artist’s paper. The college has commissioned an ink stamp for use on thinner material, such as rice paper.

Last month, Arctic College students from across Nunavut displayed their work at Iqaluit’s Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, and last week, students hosted a major print sale at the college’s Arts and Crafts Centre in the capital.