Canadian Heritage minute spotlights Inuit artist
Canadians will soon know more about the late Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak and how her work influenced art coming from the North.
A film crew recently went to her home in Cape Dorset a community in the northern territory of Nunavut to film a 60-second Heritage Minute.
These short films have been made since 1991 by a non-profit group now called Historica Canada, dedicated to informing Canadians about their history. The shorts are viewed on television and in movie theatres.
First Heritage Minute translated into Inuktitut
This is will be the first Heritage Minute to be translated into Inuktitut, the languages of the Inuit people. The film shorts are produced in English and in French, Canada’s two official languages.
While this is not the first Heritage Minute to illustrate Inuit culture, is the first to be filmed in Canada’s North in 20 years. The film’s producer felt it was important to film in the area to better understand how Ashevak was influenced by the landscape and the lifestyle she lived in Cape Dorset.
Ashevak’s family members will also be characters in the film.
Eye on the Arctic‘s 2010 interview with Kenojuak Ashevak at her home in Cape Dorset, Nunavut:
A pioneer of Inuit art
Ashevak is considered a pioneer of Inuit art, and one who influenced other aboriginal artists.
The National Gallery of Canada owns about 50 of her works, including her most famous print, Enchanted Owl.
She was born in 1927 and died at home in Cape Dorset in 2013.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Arctic mural underway in Toronto, Canada, 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: Feature Interview – Alaskan artist Nicholas Galanin, Eye on the Arctic
