Arnaak Agirasimajuuk

About this object

History of use

Contemporary Inuit prints were first produced at Cape Dorset in 1957. Although precursors to printmaking can be seen in women's skin applique work and in men's incising of ivory, stone and bone, the impetus for printmaking was as a commercial venture. This venture was established jointly by Inuit artists and John Houston, the civil administrator for Cape Dorset. Other Inuit communities quickly followed the commercial success of Cape Dorset's West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. Printmaking developed as a communal activity following a Japanese, rather than a Western, model of serigraph production. Each year the cooperatives produce a series of limited edition prints which are sold in the retail art market. In 1965, the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council was established from the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee to ensure high standards were maintained. Printmaking, along with stone carving, provide cash income for communities which have undergone rapid and significant change, during the late 20th century, from traditional hunting based societies to settled communities dependent on consumer goods. The prevalent images depicted in Inuit art are of traditional life, arctic animals and mythology. Recently, contemporary subjects have been depicted by a minority of artists.

Cultural context

contemporary art

Physical description

Print depicting two front-facing women with tattooed faces standing in front of a beige igloo. One of the women is carrying a child inside her parka, and the other woman is carrying a leister and a fishhook. Both of the women are dressed in white parkas with black trim, and the woman on the right is wearing a plaid skirt. The name of the artist is written in Inuit syllabics at the upper right-hand side, and the name of the printmaker is printed in Inuit syllabics with the Cape Dorset stylized red igloo seal in the lower right-hand corner. Below the image is written, "Arnaak Agirasimajuuk lithograph 9/50 Dorset Olayou 1976." The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council's and Cape Dorset's blind embossed stamps are in the lower right-hand corner.