In the days before mass media reached the remote corners of Canada, before Twitter and Facebook, the art and artists of Canada’s Arctic were the main conduit for northerners to communicate their culture and communities to the rest of the world.
Today, the artists from this region continue to push boundaries, exploring everything from traditional culture and family life, to the climate and social change in their communities.
Since 2010, Eye on the Arctic‘s Eilís Quinn has been travelling to these artists’ studios to hear about their inspiration and their work.
This summer, to coincide with Canada’s 150th birthday, we’ll be launching a special page featuring our conversations with the printmakers, graphic artists and carvers responsible from some of the most internationally recognized art out of Canada.
In the lead up to the project, we’re dipping into our vault and bringing you some of the interviews we’ll be featuring.
Today we bring you our 2010 conversation with Toonoo Sharky, a carver in Cape Dorset, a renowned artistic community in Canada’s eastern Arctic
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Inuit art featured on new Canadian banknote, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: London gallery offers multimedia Sámi art, Yle News
Greenland: Canadian artist explores Greenland’s past, Eye on the Arctic
Russia: Karelian art on show in Russia, Yle News
Sweden: Swedish Sámi visual artist shaping climate changes, Radio Sweden
United States: ‘I Am Inuit’ goes from Instagram to museum in Anchorage, Alaska, Alaska Public Radio Network
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