Iqaluit (Oct 18/04) - Galleries across the globe unpacked the 45th annual Cape Dorset print collection this past weekend.

North of 60, the collection, is only available at three locations: the Northern Images galleries in Yellowknife and Inuvik and the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit.

Demand for the prints in Iqaluit is so high, the museum held a draw to determine who gets first choice at snapping up the latest art.

"Some galleries in the south make people line up outside," said Brian Lunger, the museum's curator.

"But with the weather up here, we can't have people lined up out in the cold."

Art lovers draw a ticket with a number on it and that determines the order in which they make their purchases.

The collection's opening also doubles as a social event. The draw was followed by refreshments and time to browse the artwork.

"It's extremely popular," said Lunger.

Each of the 37 galleries in Canada and abroad gets one of each print in the collection. The galleries may be able to order more copies, but, for most of the works, the edition is limited to 50 prints, making them hot commodities.

"There are always certain prints that sell out immediately on opening day," said Lunger.

Suggested prices range from $300 for Anirnik Ragee's Field of Verse, a rainbow-coloured lithograph of thousands of overlapping syllabics, to $1,000 for a Kenojuak Ashevak lithograph called Ravens Entwined.

Lunger was particularly excited to see prints by Pauta Saila. Saila, 88, is renowned for his carvings, but his two stonecuts are classic Dorset prints in terms of subject and style.

Drawn to prints

Michelle McDuff, manager of Northern Images gallery in Yellowknife, spent most of last week hanging and arranging the prints with care.

She said everyone who came in to the gallery was drawn to the corner where the prints were going up.

"They're extremely colourful," said McDuff.

Some of the prints with the most intense colours are etchings using a technique called aquatint. An acid resistant powder is applied and fused to the plate using heat.

The acid etches around the droplets of powder, producing dots of colour on the print. Colour tones of different intensities can be produced by varying the amount of powder.