''Floe Edge: Contemporary Art and Collaborations from Nunavut'' was an exhibition of contemporary

Inuit art Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but s ...

and

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion i ...

staged by Quebec

artist collective An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the need ...

Axe Néo-7 and curated by Kathleen Nicholls of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association. The exhibition featured contemporary works from 18 artists in multiple media, including videos, drawings, and fashion. The organizers intentionally eschewed more traditional presentations of Inuit art such as

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...

carvings. ''Floe Edge'' originally appeared at the Galerie Axe Néo-7 in Gatineau, Quebec, from January to March 2016. The exhibition travelled to

Canada House Canada House (french: Maison du Canada) is a Greek Revival building on Trafalgar Square in London. It has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 1970. It has served as the offices of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom since 192 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in September 2016. It was presented at the Urban Shaman Gallery in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, Manitoba, from September to October 2017. According to the artist statement, the exhibit was named for the "floe edge" phenomenon of the Arctic spring, when the frozen

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

begins to melt along shorelines, creating a constantly-changing seascape filled with

ice floes An ice floe () is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least 20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across. Drift ice is a floating field of sea ice composed of several ice floes. They may cau ...

. The name serves as a metaphor for the lives and works of the artists involved, many of whom do not work solely as artists, and whose other jobs often influence their art.

Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...

, an Inuk throat singer, performed a sung

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

over a screening of the 1922 silent film ''

Nanook of the North ''Nanook of the North'' is a 1922 American silent film which combines elements of documentary and docudrama, at a time when the concept of separating films into documentary and drama did not yet exist. In the tradition of what would later be c ...

''. Visual artist

Ningiukulu Teevee Ningiukulu (Ningeokuluk) Teevee (born May 27, 1963 in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Cape Dorset) is a Canadians, Canadian Inuk, Inuit writer and visual artist. Biography Formerly known as Ningeokuluk, as of March 2017 she uses the name, Ningiukulu, to re ...

contributed drawings. Landscape photographer Niore Iqalukjuak presented small-scale photographs of the Arctic. A team of video artists collaborated on a large-scale video presentation called ''Gauge'', which used

time-lapse photography Time-lapse photography is a technique in which the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than the frequency used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus ...

to show a series of shapes on a wall of show. Sculptor Mona Netser presented ''Hunter with Kativak'', a large-scale doll depicting a hunter with wild hair. The sculpture was staged so that the hunter's spear pointed at a drawing of a polar bear consuming a walrus, which Leah Snyder of '' Inuit Art Quarterly'' said formed "a dynamic arrangement of hunter and hunted." Jewellery designer

Mathew Nuqingaq Mathew is a masculine given name and a variant of Matthew. It is also used as a surname. As a given name Notable people with the given name include: * Mat Erpelding (born 1975), American politician * Mat Kearney (born 1978), American singer-s ...

showed a pair of

snow goggles Snow goggles (Inuktitut: or , syllabics: or ; esu, nigaugek, ) are a type of eyewear traditionally used by the Inuit and the Yupik peoples of the Arctic to prevent snow blindness. The goggles fit tightly against the face so that the only l ...

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. '' Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, i ...

. Another jeweller,

Lavinia Van Heuvelen In Roman mythology, Lavinia ( ; ) is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, and the last wife of Aeneas. Creation It has been proposed that the character was in part intended to represent Servilia Isaurica, Emperor Augustus's first fiancée. Stor ...

, presented pieces in ivory. Contemporary

sealskin Sealskin is the skin of a seal. Seal skins have been used by aboriginal people for millennia to make waterproof jackets and boots, and seal fur to make fur coats. Sailors used to have tobacco pouches made from sealskin. Canada, Greenland, Norwa ...

fashion was represented in a

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...

set by Nala Peter and sealskin-covered

high heels High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the ...

Nicole Camphaug Nicole Camphaug is a Canadian Inuk fashion and jewellery designer from Nunavut. She is primarily known for creating sealskin-covered shoes and other contemporary Inuit fashion items under the label ENB Artisan, which she runs with her husband ...

. Reviewers found the fashion a highlight of the show. Paul Gessell described the items as "totally impractical, drenched in kitsch and thoroughly delightful, thus possessing all the qualities of the over-the-top garments seen on the runways of Paris or Milan." He called the show "an upraised Inuit middle finger" to anti-sealing activists. Snyder described the presentation of these items as "a wry critique on Southern expectations of Arctic fashion".

References

{{Reflist Inuit art 2016 in art 2017 in art Inuit fashion Art exhibitions in Canada Contemporary art exhibitions