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Art used to connect generations Youth and elders in Pangnirtung carry on storytelling tradition
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 2, 2013
PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
Pangnirtung youth and elders recently got together to carry on the tradition of storytelling, which has been a central part of Inuit culture for generations.
The workshop, entitled Painting Change 2, was held at the Pangnirtung Youth Centre on Aug. 28. Residents were invited to attend and listen to elders tell stories about Arctic sea ice. The youth were then asked to reflect on the story and sketch whatever came to mind.
One participant, 15-year-old Mary Angmarlik, said it was a rare opportunity to create art and hear stories.
"The community doesn't really do art that much," she said.
"It was awesome to hear stories about the sea ice."
The event was part of a larger, ongoing project by Kaitlyn Rathwell, a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo who has been in Pangnirtung since the end of June.
Her research explores the Inuit artistic response to climate change and one of her goals is to engage youth, artists and elders to share stories about sea ice, learn about their culture and make art.
She is also interested in exploring how artist processes can be used to bridge ways of knowing, and how artists and youth can come to understanding each other by interacting.
Rathwell said the workshop was well attended and gave insight into the benefits of narrative storytelling.
"The elders took turns telling stories about their experiences on the sea ice and, all of a sudden, the whole room would erupt in laughter," she said, adding the stories were translated by an interpreter.
"One elder talked about when she traveled by dog team from Pangnirtung to Iqaluit. She had a lot of great anecdotes and the youth were super engaged."
The workshop follows a previous session that was held in July when a mural was created by youth using stencils, drawing and sewing.
Rathwell said she learned a lot about youth engagement from that first process.
While running workshops in Pangnirtung certainly differs from running them in the south, wonderful and surprising things emerge when the process is more organic.
"Sometimes things will not go according to plan but great things can come out when you let things unfold a little bit," she said.
"You have to be open and comfortable and not have a strict plan. When youth do feel engaged, they feel tremendous ownership and take more initiative."
Rathwell gave an example of a participant who kept working on the mural, even during evenings.
One early morning, Rathwell and her project partner showed up at the print shop to work on the mural but a youth had already beat them to it.
She hopes to organize more workshops of a similar nature in the near future, given the success of the first two.
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