Germaine Arnaktauyok (born in
Maniitsoq
Maniitsoq (), formerly Sukkertoppen, is a town in Maniitsoq Island, western Greenland located in the Qeqqata municipality. With 2,534 inhabitants , it is the sixth-largest town in Greenland.
History
Archaeological finds indicate that the area ...
, Greenland in 1946)
is an
Inuk
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...
printmaker, painter, and drawer originating from the
Igloolik
Igloolik ( Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on th ...
area of
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, then the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
.
Arnaktauyok drew at an early age with any source of paper she could find.
The media she works with consists of
lithograph
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
s,
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
s, and
serigraph
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...
s that illustrate
Inuit myths and traditional ways of life from her past experiences and ancestral culture. Her designs are two-dimensional revealing expressive line work illustrations that indicate personal stories incorporated in the subject of past Inuit tales.
Family
Until the mid 1960s, she lived with her family in a camp inland from the town where
seals
Seals may refer to:
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
and
caribou
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
were plentiful for hunting. Therese Nattok and Isidore Iytok, the mother and father of Germaine Arnaktauyok, are talented carvers that contributed to the Inuit style of art. Arnaktauyok was the third of eight children. She was the oldest daughter in the family.
Religion
Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism were the two religions that were practised in the Igloolik region. Priests were available in the towns and occasionally visited the camps in order to listen to the community's confessions and provide spiritual support.
Arnaktauyok was baptised into the Catholic faith as an infant. In
Chesterfield Inlet
Chesterfield Inlet (Inuit: ''Igluligaarjuk'')Issenman, Betty. ''Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing''. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254 is an inlet in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is an arm of northwestern Hudson Bay, and the ...
, she attended a Catholic school when she was nine years old. She stayed here for seven years, only to return to her family each summer, which became lonesome for her in the school season. A nun, who was skilled at painting, recognized her talent and provided lessons for her. Arnaktauyok’s painting skills developed and her first artwork was sold at the age of eleven.
Education
Arnaktauyok continued her schooling at a school in
Churchill, Manitoba, where she was further encouraged to pursue the art field by George Swinton. In 1967, she took art courses on the weekends 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 749,6 ...
, and a year later she attended the
Fine Arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
program at the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.[Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...](_blank)
to study at the Pembroke Campus of
Algonquin College
Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Upst ...
for commercial art in 1969. This particular field was not what she wanted to pursue; however, she did gain experience for creating illustrations in books at the
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
* Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
. In the same year, she moved to
Iqaluit
Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. In 1987, its t ...
, then called Frobisher Bay, to work for the Frobisher Bay Arts and Crafts Centre, which lasted five years. While working in Iqaluit, Algonquin College in
Pembroke offered her a year-long course in the crafts field involving historical and cultural techniques of crafting.
Career
After her education was completed for the time being, Arnaktauyok moved to
Yellowknife
Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
to work for the
Government of the Northwest Territories
The Politics of Northwest Territories involves not only the governance of the Northwest Territories but also the social, economic and political issues specific to the territory. This includes matters relating to local governance and governance by ...
(GNWT); this was from 1971 to 1976. She was given many commissioned projects for the Department of Education, GNWT.
Her artwork is held in a variety of museums, including the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...
, the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...](_blank)
, the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, the
McMaster Museum of Art
The McMaster Museum of Art (MMA) is a non-profit public art gallery at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The museum is located in the centre of the campus, attached to Mills Memorial Library and close to the McMaster University Student Cen ...
, and the
Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and the ...
.
Personal life
Arnaktauyok married in 1976, and had her daughter, Amber. The family lived in
Langley, British Columbia, and for ten years Arnaktauyok was not actively producing art. She split up with her husband in 1989, and moved back to Yellowknife where she focused on making art. In 1992, she moved back to Iqaluit to study printmaking with Kyra Fischer at
Arctic College
Nunavut Arctic College ( iu, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒃ, french: Collège de l’Arctique du Nunavut, Inuinnaqtun: ''Nunavunmi Inirnirit Iliharviat'') is a public community college in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The colle ...
for a year. Since then, Germaine Arnaktauyok has been actively engaged in creating drawings and etchings that reflect her personal life in historical Inuit narratives.
Honours and exhibits
* Designed the reverse of the
two dollar coin issued by the
Royal Canadian Mint
}) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada.
The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures ...
in 1999 to commemorate the inception of the province of Nunavut.
* Designed a two hundred dollar special edition
gold piece
A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buff ...
issued by the mint in 2000 as part of the Native Cultures and Tradition Series.
*
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts
The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are annual awards for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. Up to eight awards are presented annually with the prize amount is $25,000
Created in 2000 by then Governor General Adrie ...
(2021)
Books
Germaine is the co-author and illustrator of ''My Name is Arnaktauyok: The Life and Art of Germaine Arnaktauyok''.
She also illustrated the short comic
Kiviuq Vs Big Bee. Written by
Jose Kusugak
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
*Jose ben Abin
*Jose ben Akabya
* Jose the Galilea ...
and published by Renegade Arts Entertainment in the Arctic Comics anthology in 2016.
Germaine has also illustrated many books including:
* ''Inuit Spirit: A Colouring Book by Germaine Arnaktauyok''
* ''Those That Cause Fear''
* ''Way Back Then''
* ''Kiviuq's Journey''.
References
* Biography of Germaine Arnaktauyok o
Inuit.uqam.ca*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnaktauyok, Germaine
1946 births
Living people
Artists from Nunavut
Inuit printmakers
Canadian designers
Canadian printmakers
Canadian Inuit women
Women printmakers
People from Igloolik
People from Iqaluit
20th-century Canadian artists
Inuit from the Northwest Territories
Inuit from Nunavut
21st-century Canadian women artists
20th-century Canadian printmakers
Canadian women illustrators
Canadian Roman Catholics
Coin designers
Canadian lithographers
20th-century Canadian women artists
People from Maniitsoq
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners
20th-century lithographers