Nunavik printmaking revival celebrated at Ottawa Art Gallery

A new exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery is celebrating a resurgence in Inuit printmaking across Nunavik, where linocut workshops helped revive the medium of stone-cut printmaking.

Revival: Printmaking in Nunavik (2014–2019) is a touring exhibition presented in collaboration with the Avataq Cultural Institute.

Co-curated by Montreal-based artist Lyne Bastien and Nunavik printmakers Qumaq M. Iyaituk and Maggie Napartuk, the show features a collection of 26 works created by Inuit artists who participated in travelling printmaking workshops in Nunavik over the past decade. It will remain on display until Aug. 24.

The roots of the project go back to 2014, when Bastien first visited Puvirnituq.

“I was excited to be there because I knew of the community’s history of printmaking and stone-cut printmaking, which happened in the early ’50s and early ’60s,” said Bastien.

When she found no active printmaking in the village, Bastien partnered with the school board to offer linocut workshops for adults.

A linocut is a type of printmaking technique in which an image or design is carved into a linoleum surface. It’s a form of relief printing, similar to woodcut printing. Linoleum is softer and easier to preserve than wood.

Bastien points out that, unlike their counterparts in Kinngait, Nunavik’s artists had even fewer resources and infrastructure.

“They worked in studios like the one in Puvirnituq that didn’t have running water or even a toilet. It was cold, and often the studios weren’t heated,” she said.

The artists were determined despite these challenges. The results were often more “coarse” but still highly expressive.

Napartuk joined Bastien’s workshop in March 2015 and grew to love the commitment involved in the print-making process. She was soon invited to co-facilitate the workshops that travelled through Nunavik, often spending three weeks to a month in a community.

Inuit printmaking from Nunavik is featured in “Revival: Printmaking in Nunavik (2014–2019)” at the Ottawa Art Gallery, showcasing works that highlight the cultural resurgence through linocut techniques. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Avataq Cultural Institute. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)

“Travelling to the communities we went to, I could see how much it was helping other Inuit artists because they would personally talk to me of what they’re going through,” said Napartuk.

“It was not a healing workshop, but it did give some insight, inspiration, and more attention to our culture, our ancestors, and where we come from.”

The exhibition also reflects a shift in the community’s involvement.

“There were a lot more women [at the workshops],” Bastien said. “They were artists. They did sewing projects, they painted, and they really took to it. They enjoyed the idea of working in community, making prints together in a room.”

Napartuk’s 2015 linocut, I Am Inuk, greets visitors at the exhibition’s entrance and each of the 26 prints in the show reveal what Napartuk calls “a real knitted connection,” as seen in the map of Nunavik at the start of the exhibition.

“The artists all come from different parts of our region, and they all talk about survival — about going against the wind. They show our way of hunting, our daily activities, who we are and the tools we use,” Napartuk said.

Bastien said she hopes the exhibition, which emphasizes the resilience of Inuit culture, will shift perceptions in the south.

“What I wish people to see is that there are so many positive, beautiful things happening in the North,” Bastien said. “It is also so important for Inuit to see the work is coming out of their communities. This show is about that.”