Northern exposure: Textile Museum exhibition explores the art of Inuit printmaking

A new exhibition at Toronto's Textile Museum of Canada tells the story of a handful of artists who created hand-printed textiles in Cape Dorset, Nunavut in the 1960s.

The story of Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios, which runs until Aug. 30 before embarking on a nationwide tour in 2021, begins in the 1950s, as Inuit communities transitioned to a more urbanized existence in towns such Cape Dorset. With the help of artist and civil administrator James Houston, who was instrumental in establishing Inuit art as a commercial enterprise in the North, printmaking emerged as a promising means of generating much-needed income for the area.

In addition to being marketed to architects, public works officials and department stores across the country, the textiles were entered into the Design ’67 Awards competition, a program to promote Canadian design at the upcoming Expo ’67 in Montreal. The fabrics won, earning a $1,000 prize for Kinngait Studios along with a role decorating a model suite at Moshe Safdie’s Habitat ’67 apartment building.

The textiles, such as Anna Kingwatsiak's Camp Scene, seen here, render characters in a vivid, colourful style.While modern textile design in Canada’s north began with Kinngait Studios in the 1960s, it didn’t end there. Alongside the original fabrics in Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios are new works from Martha Kyak, Tarralik Duffy and Nooks Lindell, Inuit fashion designers who are continuing the tradition of Northern textile design.

Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)

Devine! Are there any plans to re-issue the original Inuit prints?

Not cultural appropriation. Just plain old colonialism

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