Iqaluit (July 26/04) - The Pangnirtung 2004 community print collection, which opened July 14 at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, has proven popular with locals and tourists alike.

"We've sold about eight so far," museum manager and curator Brian Lunger said two days after the opening.

Composed of traditional Inuit images, the exhibit attracted nearly 100 people for the official opening. Prints retail for between $200 and $400.

Artists whose work is represented in this year's collection include Ame Papatsie, Abigail Ootoova, Andrew Qappik, Noah Maniapik and Tommy Angnakak.

Many of the prints are stencils with beautifully simple images and soft colours. This year marks the first time since the Pangnirtung print shop was burnt down 10 years ago that lithograph prints have also been included in the collection.

The show is simultaneously exhibited throughout North America, Asia and Europe, but there is only one Nunavut showing.

"This is really the only place in Nunavut outside the print shop in Pang that these prints are displayed, so we think it's important to display them and let them be seen," Lunger said.

This is the exhibition's 31st anniversary, though it was interrupted in the early '90s after the community print shop fire.

The show is open until Aug. 15.