Timiat Anuraktut

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.

contemporary art

Print depicting four bird figures: the upper two have boots on their feet with the bird on the left holding pants in its beak, and the bird on the right with mittens on its tail feathers; the lower bird on the left is wearing boots on its feet, a mitten on its tail, and has its head in a parka; the lower bird on the right is wearing a parka and mittens, and holds a boot in its beak with the other one on its left foot. The birds are on an orange-red and grey curvilinear cloud-shaped background. Below image is written, "Timiat Anuraktut stonecut and stencil 36/50 Dorset 1977 Soroseelutu." The names of the artist and printmaker in Inuit syllabics along with the Cape Dorset stylized red igloo seal are printed on the bottom right-hand side. The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council's blind embossed stamp is in the lower right-hand corner.