Mina Napartuk (1913 – 2001) is a Canadian

Inuit 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 ...

artist known for her fabric and fur crafts, as well as her management of the women’s craftshop in

Kuujjuarapik Kuujjuarapik (also spelled Kuujjuaraapik; iu, ᑰᔾᔪᐊᕌᐱᒃ ''little great river'') is the southernmost northern village (Inuit community) at the mouth of the Great Whale River (french: Grande Rivière de la Baleine) on the coast of H ...

Biography

Napartuk was born in 1913 in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. She trained in the traditional arts of working with fur, skins, and fabric to create dolls, clothing (including kamiks), and wall-hangings known as ''akinnamiutak''. Starting in the 1980s Napartuk managed the women’s craftshop in Kuujjuarapik which focused on traditional crafts of the area. In the mid-1980s she moved to nearby

Umiujaq Umiujaq ( iu, ᐅᒥᐅᔭᖅ) is a northern village (Inuit community) near the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Nunavik in northern Quebec, Canada. The village was established in 1986 by Inuit from Kuujjuarapik, 160 km to the south, who dec ...

. Selected exhibitions that Napartuk's work has appeared in include ''Group Show of Wallhangings'' at the Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art; ''Things Made by Inuit'' at La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec; and ''Inuit Art: A Selection of Inuit Art from the Collection of the National Museum of Man, Ottawa, and the Rothmans Permanent Collection of Inuit Sculpture, Canada'' at the National Museum of Man, Ottawa. She has participated in workshops in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Napartuk died in 2001 in Umiujaq.

References

External links

Wall hanging of appliquéd sealskin on cloth made by Mina Napartuk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napartuk, Mina 1913 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Canadian women artists 20th-century Canadian artists Inuit textile artists Canadian textile artists Artists from Quebec Canadian Inuit women People from Nunavik Indigenous fashion designers of the Americas Inuit from Quebec Women textile artists Canadian women fashion designers