West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative

64°13′54″N 76°32′25″W / 64.23167°N 76.54028°W / 64.23167; -76.54028[1] The West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, also known as the Kinngait Co-operative is an Inuit co-operative in Kinngait, Nunavut best known for its activities in buying, producing and selling Inuit artworks.[2][3] The co-operative is part of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, a group of locally owned businesses that provide fundamental services in the Canadian north. The co-operative sets prices for the sale of its member's works, pays the artists in advance and shares its profits with its members.[4]

The co-operative was established in 1959 by James Houston and Kananginak Pootoogook as an effort to encourage art making as an income stream for local residents. Since 1959 it has purchased over 100,000 artworks from local artists[5] and overseen the production of an annual edition of 50 prints by Kinngait artists.[6]

As of 2005 over a dozen artists from Cape Dorset have been made members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts: Abraham Etungat, Pitseolak Ashoona, Pauta Saila, Kenojuak Ashevak, Osuitok Ipeelee, Kananginak Pootoogook, Mayureak Ashoona, Kiugak Ashoona, Paulaussie Pootoogook, Toonoo Sharky, Pitaloosie Saila, Aqjangajuk Shaa and Ovilu Tunnillie (Oviloo).

The co-operative's Kinngait operations and its printmaking studio, Kinngait Studios, are housed within the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop, named for Kenojuak Ashevak, a leading figure of modern Inuit art.[7][8] The co-operative also operates Dorset Fine Arts, a commercial art gallery in Toronto, Ontario that is responsible for marketing and sale of art produced by the co-operative's members.[9][10]

  1. ^ "West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative". Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  2. ^ Martin, Sandra (September 11, 2012). Working the Dead Beat: 50 Lives that Changed Canada. House of Anansi. ISBN 9781770890497 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Prints from the Far North | The Highlands Current". highlandscurrent.org. January 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "Inuit art's renaissance is thawing cultural borders" – via The Globe and Mail.
  5. ^ "Preserving history: Thousands of artworks from Cape Dorset to be digitized | CBC News".
  6. ^ "A Toronto Specialty: Eskimo Stonecut Prints". The New York Times. March 14, 1982.
  7. ^ Hessel, Ingo (2010). "Inuit Art in the Twentieth Century". The Visual Arts in Canada: the Twentieth Century. Foss, Brian, Paikowsky, Sandra, Whitelaw, Anne (eds.). Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-19-542125-5. OCLC 432401392.
  8. ^ "West Baffin Eskimo co-operative". October 31, 2019.
  9. ^ Crandall, Richard C.; Crandall, Susan M. (July 25, 2015). An Annotated Bibliography of Inuit Art. McFarland. ISBN 9781476607436 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Market for Inuit art faces financial deep freeze after Arctic cruises put on hold".