A Print by Kenojuak Ashevak & a Diagnostic

19 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, Art, Canada, Sharing

Tags

a Diagnostic, Canada, Gabriel Dumont, Inuit Art, Kenojuak Ashevak, Métis

The late Kenojuak Ashevak , considered one of the pioneers of Inuit art, saw her first-ever print, Rabbit Eating Seaweed, included in the 1959 Cape Dorset collection. The early work points to the distinctive style for which the famed artist would become renown. (Historymuseum.ca) (Photo credit: CBC.ca)

The Red Fox by Kenojuak Ashevak (Photo credit: Nunatsiaq News (See Aboriginals in North America)

I apologize for not posting for a long time. There has been a change in my life, but it is not a serious change.

Here is my story. A few weeks ago, I told my doctor that my memory was playing tricks on me. Test confirmed mild cognitive impairment. I will lose my driver’s license and my precious little red Toyota.

Do not be alarmed. I was not diagnosed until the early 1990s, but I have suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME since 1976. Victims get lost in mid-sentence and don’t remember words and names. I continued working and had a successful but shorter career than I would have liked. The only difference between the old and the new diagnostic is age. I am now older. But it could simply be that moving tired me out and that taking a mortgage, at my age, was stressful. Life is not always easy.

In short, I could not work on posts for several days because I was making various arrangements that would allow me to stay home for many long years, despite mild cognitive deficiency. Ironically, destiny led me to purchase a lovely apartment in the appropriate building. It has elevators, a heated interior swimming pool, and, as I have told you in an earlier post, it is located very near a small market place that includes a post office and most of the facilities I require.

My next post is on Métis leader Gabriel Dumont and the North-West Rebellion. Métis and Amerindians were losing their land, so surveyors can cut it up into little squares while a railroad was being built that woul take citizens from sea to sea: A Mari usque ad Mare, the Canadian motto.

Canadian Confederation was very costly,

As a leader, Gabriel Dumont was second only to Louis Riel. They resisted losses brought by Canadian expansion westward. The video inserted below is a fine account of events that took Canada from sea to sea, but a post is necessary.

Gabriel Dumont (Photo credit: The Canadian Encyclopedia)

Inuit Art

17 Sunday May 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, Kenojuak Ashenak

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Carving, John Fenney, Kenojuak Ashevak, Storytelling

“This documentary shows the inspiration behind Inuit sculpture. The Inuit approach to the work is to release the image the artist sees imprisoned in the rough stone. The film centres on an old legend about the carving of the image of a sea spirit to bring food to a hungry camp.” (YouTube)

—ooo—

Inuit Art

Inuit are excellent artists. Many are carvers and make carvings using soapstone. In earlier days, their preference was for walrus ivory. Their art can be found in galleries and museums in Canada’s larger cities: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, but it seems that Winnipeg has Canada’s finest collection of Inuit art as well as several artists who draw inspiration from Inuit art. Toronto opened its Museum of Inuit Art, in 2007. But Inuit art can also be found in New York at Look North New York. (See Inuit Art)

Inuit carvings are at times very expensive, but they are one of Canada’s national treasures. I was introduced to Inuit carvings in a Toronto store. The owner was very knowledgeable. Inuit are celebrated carvers, but Inuit also produce images that are characterized by permanent newness and, at times, humour. They are heirs to Japonisme.

I chose the film shown at the top of this post not only because of its subject matter, carvings, but also because it contains a legend reflecting the legend of the mermaid. It has stories. The film was produced in 1958 by director John Fenney who also directed a film about Kenojuak Ashevak, (3 October 1927 – 8 January 2013), an acclaimed artist who worked using several media: carving, drawing, print-making, etc.

You may note that Inuit sing often, like voyageurs. They seem a very happy people. Ashevak spoke Inuktitut, the language of Nunavik (Quebec).

The National Film Board: The Land of the Long Day

The National Film Boar/l’Office national du film has a large collection of documentaries on Inuit or the north. I could not find an English-language version of Au pays des jours sans fin. It is a very informative documentary. However, I have just found it: The Land of the Long Day: https://www.nfb.ca/film/land_of_the_long_day.

But let us see a few carvings and, in a short video, the art of Kenojuak and colleagues. Kenojuak is the most celebrated Inuit printmaker (stencils or pochoirs). She died in 2003, at the age of 85.