Information

Shown below are items associated with Kenojuak Ashevak available without first logging in. This person appears in records from MOA and Brooklyn.

Knowledge shared by institutions

Born on south Baffin Island at a camp area known as Ikirisaq, Kenojuak grew up traveling from camp to camp on south Baffin and in Arctic Quebec (Nunavik). As a young woman, she was married to Johnniebo and lived with him in various camps including Keakto, a scenic area seven miles from Cape Dorset. While still living at Keakto in the late 1950's, both Kenojuak and Johnniebo first experimented with carving and drawing. They moved to Cape Dorset in 1966 in order for their children to attend school, and continued to work closely together until Johnniebo's death. Kenojuak has been represented in almost every annual Dorset print collection since 1959. Her work has also been included in numerous special projects and commissions. In 1961 she was the subject of a film produced by the National Film Board about her traditional life and art. In 1970 her print, Enchanted Owl (1960) was reproduced on a stamp commemorating the centennial of the Northwest Territories, and again in 1993 Canada Post selected her drawing entitled "The Owl" to be reproduced on a stamp. Her art and life were the focus of the limited edition book entitled "Graphic Arts of the Inuit: Kenojuak", published in 1981. Kenojuak received the Order of Canada in 1967. In 1992, she was awarded Honourary Degrees from both Queen's University and the University of Toronto. In 1996 she received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards Ceremony in Vancouver. In the spring of 2001, Kenojuak was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. (Biographical information from the Dorset Fine Arts website.) Media: printmaking, drawing and sculpture.

Born: 1927
Died: 2013-01-08