Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 20/99) - Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver has been hoping to host another Northern jewelry show since their first exhibit in 1997.

It's become tradition that every year, the work of students in Arctic College's Jewelry and Metalwork program has been shown in the south.

"It was fantastic," says co-director of Spirit Wrestler Nigel Reading about the first show the gallery hosted.

"The response was very good. It's something that we have believed in from the beginning because it offers the opportunity for money to be made by the artist."

Reading adds it's a great art-form for Northern artists to pursue because it allows them to work at home in mid-winter when it's -40 C.

"And to ship the raw materials to the North is fairly inexpensive. To ship the finished goods is fairly inexpensive," he adds.

According to Reading, once a jeweller becomes good at the form, the prospects for good financial return exists.

Regarding the first exhibit, Reading says, "We wanted to do something really major to launch it worldwide. We documented and catalogued it and made a major opening of it and turned it into a major event."

While Reading believes there's a viable market for Northern jewelry, he has practical advice for the jewellers.

"What I stress to the Inuit is they have to make the jewelry distinctly Inuit because they're competing against very inexpensive silver jewelry from all over the world. There's good Mexican jewelry, Thai jewelry, Balinese jewelry and there's some beautiful ethnic jewelry being done in other third-world countries, which they have to compete against."

Reading hasn't yet viewed the work produced by students in Aurora College's jewelry and metalwork programs in Rae-Edzo and Inuvik.

"I haven't seen any of that work, any of it whatsoever," he says, adding that there will be pieces incorporated into the show.

He stresses the work must represent the culture; whether in theme or material.

"Whether they tell stories or myths or legends or whatever they wish but someone should be able to look at it and know it's Inuit."

The same goes for jewelry-makers in the West, whatever their specific culture.

He uses a pair of Inuit earrings as an example.

"We had a pair of earrings that I guess were some little Arctic flower, but, I mean, they were just flowers. They could have been flowers from Mexico, from the Philippines, flowers from Indonesia. There was nothing that told the person looking at it that it was done by an Inuit jeweller. I know it's a pretty basic thought, but that is a reality."

Originality is another way of putting it.

"And it has been, for the most part. I think it's very exciting what's happening up there. We have been very supportive of it. For the gallery, it's not a moneymaking venture, far from it. By the time we do cataloguing on inexpensive pieces ..."

Reading finishes by saying he thinks it's a great art-form, especially during the festive season, because the artist can make great money.

Spirit Wrestler Gallery will be hosting the 2000 show in June/July.

All across the North, from Iqaluit to Inuvik to Rae-Edzo, Christmas shows and sales have been taking place successfully over the last week or two.