Umajuit Item Number: Na807 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Print depicting four rows of animals: the top row depicts four birds, two of which are spotted, and one is green while the others are blue; the next row depicts four caribou, one dark blue, one grey-blue, one orange-brown, and one green; the next row depicts four polar bears, two are outlined in orange-brown, and two are outlined in green; the bottom row depicts three spotted seals, one green, one orange-brown, and one dark blue. The name of the artist is printed in the top right-hand corner of the image with the name of the printmaker, which has been printed along with the Cape Dorset stylized red igloo. Below the image is written, "Umajuit Stone Cut 18/50 Dorset 1975 Jamasie." The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council blind embossed stamp is in the lower right-hand corner.
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
Item History
- Made by Jamasie Teevee (Maker) and Qabaroak Qatsiya (Technician) in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada and Kinngait, Nunavut, Canada during 1975
- Collected before 1983
- Owned by Guenter Adolphs before December 15, 1983
- Received from Guenter Adolphs (Donor) on December 15, 1983
What
Who
- Culture
- Inuit
- Creator
- Jamasie Teevee (Maker) and Qabaroak Qatsiya (Technician)
- Previous Owner
- Guenter Adolphs
- Received from
- Guenter Adolphs (Donor)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada and Kinngait, Nunavut, Canada
When
- Creation Date
- during 1975
- Collection Date
- before 1983
- Ownership Date
- before December 15, 1983
- Acquisition Date
- on December 15, 1983
Other
- Item Classes
- works on paper
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 0914/0077