Elisapie’s Inuktitut Album Drops
Elisapie’s highly anticipated new album Inuktitut is set to be released on September 15. The fourth solo album from the Nunavik artist was inspired by the music of her youth, songs that once filled the airwaves of community radio stations across Northern Quebec. The idea for a cover album came to her in the winter of 2021 when she was overcome with emotions while listening to ABBA’s “Super Trouper” (1980), remembering times when her cousins would seek refuge at her home to escape the turmoil of their own. From this initial memory, Elisapie began to delve into her past in search of songs connected to powerful emotional moments or people from her life.
The ten tracks on Inuktitut, all translated and adapted by the artist herself, include rock and pop classics from the 1960s to 1990s by artists like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Queen and Cyndi Lauper, each linked to a person or memory from her past. This album represents an act of cultural reappropriation, a deeply personal and emotional project to offer her story and these songs back to her community as a gift, and to share her language and culture beyond Inuit Nunangat.
First Look at the 2023 Cape Dorset Print Collection
On September 7 Dorset Fine Arts released images of the group of 34 prints that make up the 2023 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection. Available for purchase on October 21, the collection of stonecut, lithograph, etching and linocut prints was made by 20 Kinngait artists and features lots of blues and blacks with pops of yellow throughout.
Art lovers will likely recognize longtime contributors Shuvinai Ashoona, RCA, Qavavau Manumie and 2023 KAMA shortlist artist Ningiukulu Teevee, but this year the studio also includes eight artists whose designs are appearing in print for the first time, like young graphic artists Josie Pootoogook, Ashley Qavavau and Napatchie Toonoo, as well as sculptors Napachie Ashoona, Pitsiulaq Qimirpik and Matthew Flaherty. Graphic artist Susie (Seeta) Saila, whose Untitled (Pink Landscape) (2020) drawing appeared on the cover of the Inuit Art Quarterly’s Winter 2021 issue, also makes her print collection debut, alongside sculptor Kakee Ningeoseak, who printed several of the works in the 2022 collection.
Dennos Museum Centre Granted Money to Preserve Artworks
The Dennos Museum Centre in Traverse City, Michigan, recently received two federal grants totalling $20,110 to enhance the preservation of artworks in the museum collection. The Smithsonian-affiliated museum is home to one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Inuit art and research catalogues in the United States, consisting of approximately 1,600 Inuit prints and sculptures from Canada, Kalaallit Nunaat and Alaska. Following the completion of window tinting in the museum's Smith Wing for Inuit Art, the Dennos Museum Centre obtained $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance Grant program to install 1,400 square feet of window tint film in the museum’s promenade wing to protect light-sensitive works, and an additional $10,110 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to address environmental damage and establish a maintenance plan for its outdoor sculpture garden.
Etua Snowball Releases New Kids’ Book
Acclaimed musician, teacher and artist Etua Snowball recently released his first children’s book. Published in English and Inuktitut by Inhabit Media, My Pet Hawk tells the story of a boy who is mesmerized by watching a hawk swoop down to catch a lemming. When he comes across a baby hawk while out on an adventure, he decides to keep it as a pet and must figure out how to take care of it. The story was inspired by Snowball’s own time out on the land in hunting and fishing camps in his youth, where one summer he too was captivated by the sight of a hawk catching a lemming. He spent that summer befriending the hawk, learning what it eats and how it behaves, eventually forming a relationship with the animal. Snowball made friends with many animals in his youth; his second book, The Wolf Pup, will be released in November.
Maata Kyak’s InukChic at New York Fashion Week
On September 10, Inuk fashion designer and artist Maata (Martha) Kyak took to the stage at New York Fashion Week for the first time. Originally from Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), NU, Kyak is the owner of InukChic, a textile and fashion brand that combines traditional Inuit and contemporary designs. The runway show at New York Fashion Week presented 20 original designs, many of which were modeled by Inuit, including Jaelyn Terriak, Augatnaaq Eccles and Megan Kyak-Monteith. The collection included hooded mini dresses in Kyak’s original printed fabrics, a number of fully gold ensembles and several brocade jackets.