Inuit artist shows positives of traditional life

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This article was published 07/05/2010 (5360 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Andrew Qappik was 14 years old, his school day in the hamlet of Pangnirtung on eastern Baffin Island was interrupted.

"I had a call from class: this gentleman wants to meet me at the hotel," recalls the shy Inuit artist, now 46.

The gentleman was H.G. Jones, a distinguished historian and archivist from North Carolina who had become passionately interested in the Arctic, its people and their art.

The adventurous Jones had been making trips to Pangnirtung since 1972, the year printmaking was introduced to the community, which is surrounded by mountains. He had noticed Qappik as an eight-year-old hanging around the print studio, watching two of his artist uncles.

Now, in 1978, the 14-year-old who had taught himself to draw by copying comic books and posters had his first five prints in the studio’s annual collection. Jones told the boy he wanted to buy one of every print.

"He said, ‘Your work is going to go somewhere,’" the soft-spoken artist remembers. "I guess it caught his eye."

Thirty-two years later, Qappik has become one of the Arctic’s top graphic artists, particularly famous for having designed the flag, coat of arms and polar bear logo of his home territory of Nunavut.

And Jones, who continued to purchase one print from every Qappik edition, has donated his complete collection of 140 Qappik prints to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. He wanted them to have a permanent home in Canada and knew that the WAG is a leading institution for Inuit art.

Jones, now 86 years old, had to give up his yearly trips to Pangnirtung (known as "Pang" for short) several years ago for health reasons. But he was in Winnipeg last week, reunited with the artist for the WAG opening of Andrew Qappik: Pangnirtung Memories, an exhibition of 32 of the donated prints — plus one recent oil painting — on view until Aug. 1.

"As a southern farm boy with no real knowledge of art," Jones wrote in a collector’s statement, "I compulsively collected all of Andrew’s prints because I was so intrigued watching the kid grow into a man and the eight-year-old caricaturist mature into a fine artist…

"I became so obsessed with acquiring all of the youth’s prints that I arranged to have them shipped to me if I failed to get to Baffin Island in a particular year."

Darlene Coward Wight, WAG curator of Inuit art, says Jones’ donation allows the gallery to present an in-depth look at a major Inuit artist. While Inuit graphics are often static, she says, Qappik is a drawing virtuoso. He is also unusual for his command of many printmaking techniques, including stonecutting, etching, aquatint, stencil and lithography.

The donation greatly enhances the WAG’s holdings of Pangnirtung prints. Along with Cape Dorset, Pang is one of just two Inuit communities currently producing prints. Only about four artists besides Qappik do the work in Pang.

Qappik was born on the land in a traditional camp. His family moved into Pang when he was a baby, but they continued to fish, hunt and go whaling.

His charming prints, many depicting animals such as polar bears, loons and walruses or traditional activities such as fishing, drum-dancing and games, exude peace, joy and subtle humour.

He describes their tone as "a joyful feeling within a struggle."

Wight says the artist, a father of four, is like his artworks: gentle, optimistic and positive. "He wants the world to see the good things about his culture."

Qappik’s dad was a mechanic, but art took control of the boy’s destiny. "At first I wanted to become a plumber or something like that," he says with a chuckle. "But whatever you’re good at, it makes a noise."

The drawings that he uses for his prints arise from his memories. "You can’t forget what you see," he says. "It stays in your head for a while."

Likely because of Arctic warming, the burly Qappik has been seeing some changes in wildlife recently.

"We’ve been seeing more polar bears than usual… When I stand up, they start running," he says with a delightful laugh.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca