Taleelayo Item Number: Na789 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Print depicting Taleelayo, the spirit of the sea. The figure has a human head and arms with a fish-like lower body. Her chest, mouth and fins are orange-brown, and the rest of her body is green. Below the image is written, "Taleelayo Stone Cut 7/50 Dorset 1974 Pitaloosee." The print is also stamped with the names of the artist and printmakers in Inuit syllabics, and with the Cape Dorset stylized red igloo seal on the bottom right-hand side of the image. The Canadian Arts Council's blind embossed stamp is at 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.
Iconographic Meaning
Taleelayo is considered to be the mother spirit of the sea.
Cultural Context
contemporary art
Item History
- Made by Pitaloosie Saila (Maker) and Qabaroak Qatsiya (Technician) in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada and Kinngait, Nunavut, Canada during 1974
- 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
- Pitaloosie Saila (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 1974
- 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
- 0914/0059