Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration

September 29 - December 14, 2014

Kinngait Studios in Kinngait, Nunavut, is the oldest and most successful printmaking enterprise in Canadian history.

In the late 1950s, James Houston studied in Japan with the master woodcut printmaker Un’ichi Hiratsuka, bringing his newfound knowledge of Japanese techniques and materials back to Kinngait.

Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration tells the story of that momentous cross-cultural encounter and explores its extraordinary results.

It features rare, early prints by such artists as Lukta Qiatsuq, Tudlik Akesuk and Osuitok Ipeelee, juxtaposed with the prints by Japanese artists that Houston brought to Kinngait in 1959.

The exhibition reveals the many ways in which the now-famous artists of Kinngait creatively “localized” Japanese influences.

Curated by

Norman Vorano, Ming Tiampo and Asato Ikeda

Credits

Produced by the Canadian Museum of History