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IGLULIK
A group of about 25 Iglulik youths worked their magic on some discarded wood qamutik pieces and turned them into art through a workshop offered in the community.

Edith Auksaq, 9, was one of 25 youths who painted discarded qamutik pieces as part of a workshop held earlier this month in Iglulik. - photo courtesy of Alexa Hatanaka

The discarded sled pieces were decorated with seals, ulus and other Northern images and installed on the back of the Kingulliit Productions building in Iglulik as part of a workshop on July 11.

Toronto artist Alexa Hatanaka, along with fellow artist Patrick Thompson, guided the group ranging in age from 10 to 15 in painting the old qamutik pieces she found at the community's landfill.

She said the youths made stencils with discarded cardboard and cereal boxes. Hatanaka said the decorated pieces turned out really nice.

"Kids would do ulus. There was a seal. Someone did a sedna. Many things," she said.

The idea, she added, was to use things from around the community and recycle it.

"We installed them on the building and I think it's really a positive element of the mural to use things that are around and not brought up from the south," said Hatanaka.

Hatanaka and Thompson were in Iglulik to paint a portrait of the late Pauloosie Qulitalik on an exterior wall of Kingulliit Productions. Qulitalik co-founded Isuma Productions and starred in some of the company's movies, such as Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner). The artists took about one week to paint the portrait. The qamutik pieces embellished by the youths are set on the adjoining wall.

"It was important to us to have a time where we really could give them (youths) more of our energy and interact with them," said Hatanaka. "I like to look at it as a cultural exchange. They're incorporating imagery from their own culture and we're showing them different techniques we've developed from our own life experience. In that way, we're creating something new together."

Two of the participants were Pauloosie Arnatsiaq and Edith Auksaq.

Arnatsiaq said he painted one piece with ulus.

"(It was) very fun," said the 11-year-old.

As for nine-year-old Auksaq, she painted five wood pieces, some with seal and ulu images.

"(It was) lots of fun," she said.

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