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Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq
Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq
Born	1941 (age 83–84); north shore of Tebesjuak Lake near Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada
Known for	graphic artist, fabric artist
Spouse	David Tiktaalaaq

Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq RCA (born 1941) is one of Canada's most renowned Inuit artists. Her work is rooted in her lived experience, often dealing with themes of being an orphan and Inuit stories her grandmother told her.^[1] Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq is noted for her drawings, prints, and wall hangings.

Personal background

Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq was born on the north shore of Tebesjuak Lake near Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada. Although she believes she was born in 1941, she was once told by an acquaintance that her actual year of birth was 1936.^[2] At that time in the area, the dates of births on the land were not generally recorded. Her mother, Gualittuaq, died shortly after Avaalaaqiaq was born, and her father, Itiplui, unable to care for her, so her grandparents raised her on the land in the customary Inuit style.^[3] Speaking of her childhood, Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq said:

Whenever I see my wall hangings they remind me of my life. Also I always remember my grandmother and the stories and legends she told me. When I grew up there were no other people except my grandparents. I had never seen white people. When I do sewing and make a wall hanging I do what I remember. I can see it clear as a picture. When I am looking at it, it looks like it is actually happening in those days, as it was in my life.^[1]

On August 9, 1956, she married David Tiktaalaaq in Baker Lake.^[4] They moved to Baker Lake in 1958, where Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq gave birth to one of their children.

Artwork

Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq began her art career between 1969 and 1970 with small soapstone carvings, often of animals with human heads.^[5]

Her works are part of the collections at the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Exhibitions

Two Great Image Makers from Baker Lake, 1999 (with Josiah Nuilaalik)^[6]
Works On Cloth, 2002^[6]

Institutions that have held exhibitions of her work, as cited in Judith Nasby's book Irene Avaalaaqiaq: myth and reality include:

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario^[7]
Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
CIBC Collection, Toronto, Ontario
Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island
Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City,
Michigan
Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Itsarnittakarvik: Inuit Heritage Centre, Baker Lake, Nunavut
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
McMaster Museum of Art, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
British Columbia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Honours

In 1999, the University of Guelph awarded Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq an honorary doctorate of laws in recognition of her contribution to the development of Inuit art and her leadership role in the Nunavut community of Baker Lake.^[8] In her address, Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq remarked, "It makes me feel proud that my art is recognized after so many years of being an artist."^[9] Her address to the audience at the ceremony for the Ontario Agricultural College and the College of Arts was delivered in her native Inuktitut, with her friend Sally Qimmiu'naaq Webster acting as translator.

She was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b Nasby 2002, p. 3.
^ Nasby, Judith (2002). Irene Avaalaaqiaq: Myth and Reality. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 4. ISBN 0773570616.
^ Nasby (2002), p. 5.
^ Nasby, 2002, p. 20.
^ Nasby 2002, p. 30.
^ ^a ^b "1995-2005: A year in review" (PDF). Marion Scott Gallery Newsletter. 2 (2): 2. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2005.
^ Nasby 2002, p. 106.
^ "Campus News: Three to receive honorary degrees at fall convocation". www.uoguelph.ca. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "NunatsiaqOnline 1999-10-29: NEWS: Baker woman honoured with university degree". www.nunatsiaqonline.ca. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.