Dozens of artists headed to Nunavut Arts Festival
15th annual event in Cambridge Bay brings artists from across the territory to share their work
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Monday, August 22, 2016
IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
The 15th annual Nunavut Arts Festival arrives in Cambridge Bay this week, bringing together artists from across the territory.
The Nunavut Arts Festival hits the community hall in Cambridge Bay from Aug. 25 to 29, bringing together artists from across Nunavut. - photo courtesy of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association |
Starting on Aug. 25 with an opening ceremony and wrapping up on Aug. 29 with the Arts Fair, the festival has 26 artists from across Nunavut confirmed, plus two artists from Alaska and an instructor from the Yukon.
Organizers say there will probably be even more artists from the community joining in as word of mouth spreads. The Arts Fair, the marketplace where artists will be selling their work, is expected to be the largest to date, to coincide with the arrival of the Crystal Serenity cruise ship.
Organized by the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association (NACA), the festival may be a bit different than visitors may expect.
"When people see arts festival they maybe imagine something more like Alianait with live performances, but it's actually in a lot of ways a professional experience for artists, for education and sales and the development of skills," said Kathleen Nicholls, the communications and membership manager for the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association.
The festival includes workshops, many open to the public, in a variety of artistic practices from qiviut spinning, gourd mobiles and earrings, beading and goose foot baskets.
"This year we also have some artists from Alaska who are coming and they're going to do a workshop that hasn't been done here before, which is a different kind of trim for parkas," said Nicholls.
Nicholls says the professional development offered isn't just artistic but is also related to the business side of the art world.
Last year, this included a session with representatives from Etsy about how to set up a web store.
This year, the Nunavut Department of Economic Development and Transportation is presenting on arts funding available through the arts development fund for community tourism and culture industries for Nunavut artists.
The schedule also includes chances for artists to speak with gallery representatives, curators and arts professionals so artists can have a chance to get a picture of what's happening outside the Nunavut and Canadian art worlds.
But, according to Nicholls, the most important part is bringing artists together.
"Because the territory is so spread out, there's not as many opportunities for artists as there would be for artists in southern Canada," she says, highlighting access to galleries, as well as free educational experiences for artists in many southern cities.
"In Nunavut, it's not always the case. You might be lucky, like in your hamlet one year they may run a parka making program or something like that but largely artists are learning from family members and learning from people around them," she said. "So it's really nice to be able to bring artists from different places together so they have this experience of learning from new people. That changes the kind of course of their work and maybe gives them new angles."
She says this makes cultural sense, consistent to the arts scene in Nunavut.
"The history of the way art is done here is also based on the history of the people. And it's a culture that's, especially in terms of art, is not necessarily obsessed with the objects but is interested in process and learning through the sharing of skills and observation," said Nicholls. "So I think it's very important to have this like incubator of allowing the artists to work in the way that they naturally want to, which is to learn from one another and be together and share a creative space."
That's why she says it's so important to have variety in the artists accepted to the festival.
Nicholls says the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association tries to get a variety of artists, at all stages in their career, from across mediums - both traditional and more modern.
"NACA promotes the whole spectrum through arts and crafts," she said, adding this includes what she calls the "cornerstones of Inuit art" like carving, print making and seamstress work, as well as more modern forms of expression like electronic music and stop-motion animation, and the mixing of traditional techniques with modern innovation.
An exhibit hosted by NACA in January in Quebec, for example, included work by Nala Peters, who makes sealskin lingerie and Nicole Camphaug who designs high heels decorated with sealskin.
"We'll also try to, like, mix in a few artists that are working with different mediums that aren't as common. And so sometimes those also will be younger artists to integrate youth into the festival. There's definitely a lot of that going on, the mixing of contemporary life with traditional materials and traditional art forms."
