The Sivertson Gallery Inuit Premiere offers a glimpse into Inuit culture, past and presnt. Above: Nina Segalowitz and Lydia Etok will offer a unique performance of Kattajjak (throat singing). Left: Master soapstone carver David Ruben Piqtoukun will be the guest at the gallery’s Fireside Chat on Saturday, March 17 and will also offer classes at North House Folk School.
Sivertson Gallery opens its 12th Annual Inuit Premiere in Grand Marais on Saturday, March 17 with worldrenowned Inuit artist David Ruben Piqtoukun. Also at the gallery that day will be throat singers Nina Segalowitz and Lydia Etok, coming from the North West Territories and Nunavik (Arctic Quebec).
The annual Inuit Premiere is the only one of its kind in the lower 48 United States featuring original Canadian Inuit and Native Alaskan prints and sculptures formed from walrus tusk, whale bone, baleen and soapstone.
Art Gallery owner and Inuit expert Jan Sivertson recently returned from visiting Inuit and Native communities throughout Canada and Alaska, bringing back Inuit art prints and sculpture as well as work by Alaskan Inupiat and Yupik artists. The opening weekend events at Sivertson Gallery are free and open to the public and the exhibit continues through the end of April. In addition, David Ruben Piqtoukun will teach two workshops at North House Folk School.
For those wanting to explore Inuit art in depth, two workshops will be offered in conjunction with the premiere. David will be teaching soapstone carving through North House Folk School. In addition to first-hand instruction, students will have the opportunity to work in the same stone as the master carver himself. This year David will focus on sculpting techniques as well as traditional carving techniques. For information or to register for those classes, visit www.northhousefolkschool.com. Throat Singers Nina Segalowitz (Fort Smith, NWT) and Lydia Etok (Kangiqsualujjuaq, Quebec) give voice to the contemporary Inuit struggle to achieve balance between two worlds; traditional life in the arctic and modern day “down south.” Segalowitz, whose ancestry is Inuvialuit (Inuit) and Chipewyan, was taken by force from her family as an infant and was raised by her adoptive family in Montreal, connecting back to her roots in adulthood. Half a continent apart, Etok grew up in an Inuit village on the shores of northeastern Quebec. With their regal performance of Kattajjak, the Nunavik-style of throat singing, they represent one of the purest traditions of Inuit culture. Practiced by the Inuit for hundreds of years, these songs embody Inuit women’s prized moments of leisure and entertainment. They will perform at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 17. For complete biographies of the artists and a schedule of weekend events, visit www.sivertson.com.
The early Inuit were a semi-nomadic hunting people divided into regional tribal groupings throughout Canada. The convergence of traditional Inuit culture, and European culture, followed by modern Western cultures, changed Inuit life. Today, the enthusiasm for and deep appreciation of Inuit art and culture is created out of the commonality of many human values: reverence for family bonds, respect for the power, beauty, and intelligence of other living creatures, and a sense of mystery about the forces that shape our lives.
Born in Paulatuk, NWT master soapstone sculptor David Ruben Piqtoukun has lived the traditional migratory life with his family along the Mackenzie River Delta. At the age of 5 David was sent to a boarding school until the age of 17. Having forgotten the Native language and Eskimo ways he describes himself at that time as being “lost between two worlds.”
More than 30 years of continued carving has taught him much about his past, his culture, and his identity, much more than any books he has read to date. In 1998 David became the first Inuit artist to be appointed to the prestigious Sculpture Society of Canada.
David will be the guest at the Sivertson Gallery Fireside Chat on Saturday, March 17 at 3:30 p.m.
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