Nasogaluaks to sculpt in Holland
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Tuktoyaktuk (Nov 13/00) - The Nasogaluak brothers head across the Atlantic Ocean today.
The two carvers, Bill and Eli, have been invited to participate in an ice and snow sculpting exhibition in Bruge, Holland.
For Inaxi Holland, the tourism marketing company which is organizing the first-time event, this ice and snow project represents a natural extension of the 10-year-old sand sculpting event they organize each summer.
"It is an exhibition, not a competition," says Eli, emphasizing the distinction.
He adds that he and his brother will be filling out an international group of sculptors participating in the massive winter effort.
Bill says one other Canadian, an artist from British Columbia will participate. A design team will plan the sculpture, while the sculptors will execute the plan.
The sand sculptures of the summer exhibition have massive proportions: 13 metres high, 60 metres wide and 80 metres long, with about 50 sand artists working over two weeks. The winter exhibition runs from Nov. 14 to Dec. 3 and involves a similar number of sculptors.
Inaxi contacted the brothers through Ottawa's Winterlude office. Last winter, Bill and Eli, along with brother Joe, participated in the capital's snowsculpting competition. They took second place and won the Artists' Choice Award.
"We sent them a photograph of that snow sculpture, and they chose us based on that," says Bill.
Last winter, the two discovered they work well as a team. They've also been working side by side, day after day, in a Yellowknife studio.
"We've grown into it (working together) since we were young," says Eli, "We know what we're capable of doing together," adds Bill.
He says Joe, who's at home in Tuktoyaktuk, will be missed on this trip.
Inaxi will cover accommodation, travel and meals, and honorarium, but Diavik is sponsoring the trip.
"Belgium and Yellowknife are connected by diamonds," says Bill.
"Diavik jumped right in."
