I Dreamed of These Birds Item Number: Na970 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Print depicting four stylized birds: the lower pair have yellow breasts and are facing a stylized tree; the upper pair have light green breasts with touching bent heads. All of the birds have multicoloured elongated and curving wing, head and tail feathers: the topmost birds have brown, red and blue feathers, and the bottom two birds have blue, brown, red and light brown feathers. The name of the printmaker is printed in Inuit syllabics along with the Cape Dorset stylized red igloo seal in the upper right-hand corner. Below the image is written, "I Dreamed of These Birds stonecut and stencil 23/50 Dorset 1980 Tukikie." The name of the artist is written in Inuit syllabics beside the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council's blind embossed stamp in the lower corner on the right.

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

What

Name
I Dreamed of These Birds
Identification Number
Na970
Type of Item
print
Manufacturing Technique
stonecut, stencilled and printed
Overall
height 51.0 cm, width 60.0 cm
Image
height 41.5 cm, width 47.5 cm

Who

Culture
Inuit
Creator
Atamik Tukikie (Maker) and Sagiatuk Sagiatuk (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 1980
Collection Date
before 1983
Ownership Date
before December 15, 1983
Acquisition Date
on December 15, 1983

Other

Item Classes
works on paper
Condition
excellent
Accession Number
0914/0240