5 Works on Boating

Inuit are water people. We aren’t always associated with water, usually snow and ice, but it’s all semantics, isn’t it? As the last vestiges of summer start to fade away I wanted to share some thoughts on boats in Inuit art. ’Tis the end of the season for getting your boat out in the North, after all! From giant icebreakers to umiait and qajait, this 5 Works has you covered. While I only selected artists from Nunavut because that’s where my boating memories are the most vivid, there are countless excellent artworks depicting boats and boating all across Inuit Nunangat, so please check out the remarkable works by artists from different regions like Joe Talirunili, Abraham Anghik Ruben, OC, and so many more.

Moving Camp by Sowdluq Nakashuk is a gorgeous piece to start out with. Here we see two people in the classic qajaq riding alongside a larger umiak, which has multiple rowers working in tandem. The hues of different greens on the umiak really contrast together well. I love to see this rare kind of print of the in-between times of Inuit lives showing what one might call the behind-the-scenes action that would normally happen before or after activities or moments more typical as subject matter you see in Inuit art. Moving camp seems like a lot of work, and it’s probably a good idea to do so before the ice freezes up.

Did you know that there are no roads from the South to Nunavut? The challenging terrains of the Canadian Shield and the frozen tundra have necessitated shipping as the primary mode of transport for a lot of goods heading to the Arctic. Every year between the end of June and the end of October, large icebreakers deliver non-perishable goods and materials to every community in Nunavut. Here we see Shuvinai Ashoona’s, RCA, departure from her usual otherworldly subject matter with a finely detailed scene of a sealift boat in the harbour delivering a year’s worth of beans, beer, or building supplies to the locals of Kinngait. 

I’m drawn to this image for multiple reasons: the unique point of view from above, the colour palette, and the sheer excitement of getting a big old crate of goodies you’ve been waiting months for! From the familiar colours of the sealift ship and surrounding burnt orange-red outdoor paint so common on buildings of a certain age in the Arctic to the aquamarine fade into light cyan that indicates changing water depth, Ashoona uses colour beautifully in this lithograph.

Precision is a word I would typically use when describing the work of graphic artists like Padloo Samayualie or Germaine Arnaktauyok, but this untitled boat sculpture by Enookie Saggiak is so clean and sleek the description also fits. I can practically hear the motor and feel the cold ocean breeze on my face looking at it. It’s a small boat, one you might find in any Inuit community, full of warmly dressed family members excited to go find a good clam-digging spot for the day or to find some more remote fishing spots away from the river where everyone and their dog are trying to catch some delicious char. Saggiak has rendered the shallow, narrow boat perfectly in serpentinite. While Inuit stone sculpture is typically known for its curves and unique forms, Saggiak has taken this boat for a ride in a different direction, opting for realism. Just imagine that sharp-edged bow slicing through dark green summer waters or bouncing on waves across the turgid sea.

Since I can remember, boating was always something that required a lot of work. As a lazybones myself, I admire people who have and maintain their own boats. Now that I’m married to someone who wants to spend our twilight years sailing the ocean, I’m going to have to start waking up early and learn to pack more efficiently. I chose this particular image by Tim Pitsiulak because it was such a familiar scene to me. Every summer I spent in Iqaluit, I would see people getting ready for boat trips nearly every day. Sometimes I was lucky enough to go with them. This is such a well-captured moment of everyday life in Nunavut.

Pitsiulak, an artist who often favoured vivid colour and realistic detail, captured even the lovely colour of a lot of the Peterhead boats common in the North. The two-toned greens always bring me joy. I particularly love how he has rendered the oceanic background in subtle greys to bring our attention to the subject of the print: his brightly coloured hunters and their vessel, preparing to cast off and find some delicious seals or perhaps even a whale.

Kananginak Pootoogook, RCA (1935–2010) is what I would consider an artist-historian. So much of his work (and that of other artists of his era) depicts historical events and detailed visual stories about Inuit history. In this print from his Things I Remember series is a particularly notable moment in Kinngait history. The sinking of the RMS Nascopie on July 21, 1947, off the shore of Kinngait on an uncharted reef was a BIG deal. Multiple Inuit artists have referenced it or featured it in their work, spanning decades. From Kananginak Pootoogook to Napachie Pootoogook to Shuvinai Ashoona (in multiple works), there is a fascination with this boat among Inuit that traverses time. My anaanatsiaq was present when it sank. She was a few days shy of her sixth birthday when it occurred, and she remembered it vividly.

I enjoy the geometric quality of this print, particularly interesting for a linocut print, a medium in which artists typically work more freely and with natural directional textures or unencumbered by the rigidity of straight lines. But Pootoogook has used the sharp angles of ruler-straight lines to jar us, to give the audience a sense of what it was like to stand on that beach in 1947 and watch a great ship succumb to the power of the sea.