Examining Emerging Geographies of Inuit Art in Canada Through the Lens of the Winnipeg Art Gallery's In
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Communities of Access: Examining Emerging Geographies of Inuit Art in Canada Through the Lens of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre and Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop by Chrys Avgi Apostolatos A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art History and Visual Culture Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Chrys Avgi Apostolatos, August, 2019 ABSTRACT COMMUNITIES OF ACCESS: EXAMINING EMERGING GEOGRAPHIES OF INUIT ART IN CANADA THROUGH THE LENS OF THE WINNIPEG ART GALLERY’S INUIT ART CENTRE AND KENOJUAK CULTURAL CENTRE AND PRINT SHOP Chrys Avgi Apostolatos Advisor: University of Guelph, 2019 Dr. Sally Hickson This thesis investigates how access to Inuit art and culture is changing through the development of new museum practices in the north and south of Canada, analyzing two new sites that are central to these emerging geographies. Opening in 2020, the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre is the first large-scale exhibition space in the world that focuses on Inuit art and culture. Located in Cape Dorset, the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop (2018), serves as a cultural centre for the production/exhibition of Inuit art in the north. Looking at the development of these two institutions within the historiography of Inuit cultural stewardship and Canadian institutional culture, I examine, through a thematic examination of print, news articles and social media posts, how new geographic centres of Inuit art are changing accessibility to Inuit culture, particularly in relation to the communities that produce it. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Sally Hickson for her continued support and guidance throughout this process. Your patience and encouragement have helped me grow professionally and to ask those tough critical questions that are imperative in my research. Thank you to Dr. Shauna McCabe, for your crucial discussions and suggestions surrounding museum practice and relations. Dr. Kimberly Anderson, thank you for believing in my ideas and pushing me to try new research techniques; this has helped foster my own skills in creating meaningful research. I would like to thank Dawn Owen and Heather Beecroft, as key mentors throughout this process. I greatly appreciate the time they took to help foster my understanding of Indigenous and settler relations through conferences and field trips with Inuit art dealers and galleries. These in-person experiences truly cemented my commitment to exploring issues and ideas that inform the practice and reception of Inuit art. I would like to thank Dr. Darlene Coward Wight and Jo Poortenaar for speaking with me at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Our discussions of Inuit art and its relation to Canadian museum practice was transformative for my research. Thank you to the University of Guelph and College of Arts for supporting my research trip to Winnipeg, Manitoba. To my partner, Daniel, thank you for your continued love and support throughout this process. Your confidence in my ideas reassured me throughout moments of uncertainty. To Flora (my dog), thank you for being so happy and positive, providing me with love and much needed study breaks. Thank you to my colleagues and friends, Sundeep, Rose and Eva. Our discussions about our research, life and well-being gave me support and comradery that has been invaluable throughout this program. Finally, thank you to my family for your support throughout all these years of education. Thank you, Harry, Dianne and Denise for instilling my love of knowledge and my passion to always ask “why?” iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter Outline ....................................................................................................................4 Chapter 1: Literature Review ...........................................................................................................7 Section 1: Inuit History and Art Production – Settler Perspectives .....................................8 Section 2: Inuit History and Art Production – Inuit Perspectives ......................................12 Section 3: Museums and Indigenous Art History ..............................................................17 The Spirit Sings: Artistic Traditions of Canada’s First Peoples ............................19 Forging New Partnerships Between Museums and First Peoples ........................23 Collaboration in Museum Exhibitions ...................................................................25 Section 4: Institutional Critiques by Indigenous and Inuit scholars ..................................29 Inuit Voice and Reconciliation ..............................................................................31 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................33 Chapter 2: Access in the South of Canada – The Inuit Art Centre ...............................................35 Introduction ........................................................................................................................35 The Winnipeg Art Gallery ................................................................................................35 The Inuit Art Centre ...........................................................................................................38 Methodology ......................................................................................................................40 Results ................................................................................................................................42 Theme 1: Dialogue/Voice ......................................................................................42 Theme 2: Public Opinions .....................................................................................46 Theme 3: Public Access .........................................................................................47 Meeting Place.................................................................................48 Promoting Inuit Art and Artists .....................................................48 Access to Art Collections...............................................................50 Tourism ..........................................................................................51 Online Access ................................................................................52 Theme 4: IAC as a Resource and Learning Opportunity .......................................54 Theme 5: Committee Structures ............................................................................56 Indigenous Advisory Circle ...........................................................58 Shift in Museum Practice ...................................................59 IAC Task Force ..............................................................................60 Curatorial Team .............................................................................61 Theme 6: Bridging the North and South of Canada ..............................................63 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................64 iv Chapter 3: Access in the North of Canada -The Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop .........67 Introduction ........................................................................................................................67 History of Cape Dorset Art Production .............................................................................68 The Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop-Rationale and Purpose .............................70 Methodology ......................................................................................................................75 Results ................................................................................................................................77 Theme 1: Meeting Place ........................................................................................77 Tourism ..........................................................................................79 Theme 2: Cape Dorset Perspective/Public Opinions .............................................80 Pride and Enthusiasm .....................................................................81 Continuity of Art Production .........................................................82 Preserving Inuit History/Culture ....................................................82 Theme 3: Cultural Centre Exhibition Space ..........................................................84 Theme 4: Sharing Knowledge ...............................................................................86 Theme 5: Bridging the North and South of Canada ..............................................87