Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jun 19/00) - As a collection of Inuit art, 1,600 works housed in a Yellowknife museum are priceless.

To the Bank of Montreal, the collection is its last resort to collect on an outstanding $52,000 debt.

The carvings, wallhangings, prints and a variety of crafts became the property of the Inuit Cultural Institute (ICI) in 1998, and have been stored at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife since then.

"We obtained the court order to put a bailee's arrangement in place September of last year rather than take physical possession," says the director of media and public relations with the Bank of Montreal, Joe Barbera.

"Basically that's saying it's under our safe-keeping but we won't walk away with it. The bank has shown a huge amount of patience since September. It's not like we have a truck outside ready to take the stuff away."

Finding a solution

"We've been urged by the governments involved (GNWT, GN, and the Government of Canada) to be patient, that they're working on a solution."

On May 26 the bank took further action, serving the ICI, via the museum, with a notice of seizure of goods.

The notice reads that "the goods seized are the complete inventory of the Inuit Cultural Institute collection located at the Prince of Wales museum."

"The idea being that they could sell off all or part of the collection," says director of the museum Chuck Arnold.

The heritage centre will continue to hold the collection while the notice is in effect.

"We're looking at what we can do to see that the collection is not sold. We have a responsibility, an ethical responsibility. We are aware of the importance of the collection. It is valuable as a collection. It's worth many times more than what is outstanding," says Arnold.

Some estimates suggest the collection is worth $3 million to $8 million.

"The bank does not have recourse to the whole collection," insists Barbera.

"We won't take the whole thing and have a windfall."

Barbera says that the $52,000 -- a fluctuating number -- was for an operating line of credit. ICI relied on government funding to cover payments. In recent years, ICI's funding has evaporated.

Problems at ICI

"In 1999, Revenue Canada came in and demanded payment for withholding. When Revenue Canada took its slice that triggered a whole bunch of events," says Barbera.

ICI has also faced withdrawal of support from most hamlets.

Barbera says that a court action of this kind takes place when a lender determines that the operating line is no longer being serviced.

"This would have clicked over a year ago."

The Government of Nunavut, on retreat in Pond Inlet, had no one available to comment on this matter at press time.

Ollie Ittinuar, president of the financially beleaguered cultural institution, was also unable to comment at press time.

As for the collection, it originally came together as a marketing tool to promote Inuit art worldwide, says Joanne Bird, curator of collections for the Heritage Centre.

When the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs gave ICI these pieces, the Canadian Museum of Civilization also received some, as did the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

"It would be a real tragedy if, first of all, the collection left the North, and, secondly, if the collection was divided," says Bird

Ranging in time from the 1950s to the 1980s, the collection traces the history and evolution of Inuit art.

"It represents a significant lump of time. All communities are represented," says Bird, adding that some of the artists became world-renown.

Priceless?

Bird lists Jessie Oonark, Komwartok Ashoona, Tommy Ashevak, Karoo Ashevak, Imikkigaq Kingwatsiak and Ipeelee Osuitok as examples of well-known Inuit artists.

Such a exhaustive variety of work reveals "a whole range of community characteristics, changes of material (over time), and individual artistic styles," she adds.

Bird also points out that having these works accessible to people in the North is different than if you were visiting a gallery in Toronto where you might just be looking at pieces for the art factor.

"This is the artistic legacy of parents, grand-parents, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters. Here you have personal contact."

But as Barbera put it, "We have to do our best to recover money that we lend."