RANKIN INLET - A group of 11 Kivalliq dolls returned home to Rankin Inlet this past week after an amazing run of popularity in the south.

Stephanie Hazelwood of the Textile Surface Design Guild of Lethbridge, Alta., was in Rankin Inlet in October of 2010 to present 11 Kivalliq dolls the guild had purchased to Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre executive director George Dunkerley for the centre's youth programming. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

George Dunkerley, Palaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre executive director, said the dolls were purchased by the Textile Surface Design Guild of Lethbridge, Alta., after being seen publicly at 2007's Kidfest.

Dunkerley said the guild received a grant from the Government of Alberta and raieed money on its own for three years to purchase the dolls.

He said once the guild finished its programming with the dolls, it donated them back to the friendship centre.

"They will be turned over to our youth program and used as models to rebuild the doll program that existed in 2007," said Dunkerley.

"That will be an ongoing feature in our youth program, once we have the elders in place to teach the youth how to rebuild them.

"Once rebuilding is complete they'll be on display in the community, but we haven't determined a location."

Dunkerley said it came as a pleasant surprise to learn the guild was donating the 11 dolls to the centre.

He said centre staff knew about the purchase a couple of years ago, and were very pleased to receive the news about the donation.

"It's pretty much standard with most Inuit traditional and cultural items we deal with, in that it takes a long time to get things going, but, once we do, it really picks up speed.

"We're really excited about getting to use these dolls in our program again.

"Our plan, right now, is focused strictly around the youth program.

"We may expand it at a later date, but that will be up to the ladies in the communities and what direction the friendship centre takes in the next few years."

Dunkerley said the doll project began in 2005 through the centre's Helen AbenReynen, and its success rate has been quite high.

He said 268 dolls were originally created, with 65 going to the Burnaby Art Gallery to be displayed for about four months.

"From there they went to the Winnipeg Art Gallery for about six months, and then to a Toronto art gallery for another five months.

"Those dolls have been returned to the people who originally made them.

"Some will eventually be sold, while others will be used in family households."

Dunkerley said the original Kivalliq doll festival allowed dollmakers to look beyond their immediate families.

He said some dolls created for the 2007 festival were valued as high as $2,000.

"So there's a nice economic advantage to the people who are making them, if they choose to go that route.

"The artists received the money for every doll sold."

The guild's Stephanie Hazelwood accompanied the dolls to Rankin.

Hazelwood said she became a member of the guild because of the doll project.

She said the guild's project was born when she showed her mother photos from the 2007 festival in Rankin.

"When the ladies of the guild saw the doll pictures, they wanted to bring some of them down for an exhibition," said Hazelwood.

"It took us three years to figure out how to do that, and be able to purchase 11 dolls with our fundraising.

"The Textile Surface Design Guild is an organization that transforms fabric within the context of art and design.

"It supports artists who work with textiles."

Hazelwood said AbenReynen's support of women learning how to work with textiles to make dolls, fell under the same umbrella as what the guild does.

She said the dolls offered a chance to explore another expression of textile craft or art.

"Each doll is unique - not a Barbie Doll mass produced by the thousands - and has a story from its maker. "Whether it's having letters embroidered on them, beading that reflects the colours or their favourite hockey team or the wearing of glasses, each doll has its own distinctive personality.

"I went to Monica Ugjuk's home as she unpacked her dolls that had been on tour.

"It was magic when her family started to play with the dolls, and that's why they need to be here, not in a glass case in some museum."

Hazelwood said dollmaking is a changing art.

She said the Kivalliq Doll Collection covered everything from pure materials from the land all the way to using polymer clay faces.

"It's a mixture of the best of old and new, and it reflects the present culture.

"You still see traditional clothing, but you also see many other styles.

"In that respect, it's just fascinating to look at the dolls that way."

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