A PORTAL INTO THE MAGIC OF THE CANADIAN ARCTIC

Washington D.C. is a political town, a place where the vestiges of State and government, and the architecture of power and prestige dominate the urban landscape: as readily apparent as monuments and landmark buildings and as subtle as the fleet of diplomat plated limousines and the embassies that are scattered across the city. The embassy that is closest to the Smithsonian's ASC, both physically and conceptually, is the Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue. Gracing the front of the Embassy is Bill Reid's magnificent cast bronze sculpture -Spirit of Haida Gwaii -arguably the finest outdoor sculpture in a city renowned for its sculpture gardens and statues. Since its inception, the Arctic Studies Center has enjoyed a close working relationship with the ka Canadian Embassy with whom we have cocurated exhibitions, shared lecture and film programs, and hosted visiting delegations of Canadian Inuit and First Nations representatives. Canada, more so than any other circumpolar country, has merged its identity with a recognition and celebration of its indigenous "First Nations" communities. One can see the depth to which the of ficial Canadian persona has embraced a northern identity in the support and the promotion of Canadian Inuit art at all governmental levels. It is not uncommon, when gifts of state arc needed, for Canadian of ficials to present Inuit stone carvings as a uniquely Canadian symbolic gift, and the inuksuit - those enigmatic human-shaped cairns of stones that are scattered across the arctic - have become as much a symbol of Canada as the Maple Leaf.

In 1992 Stephen Loring curated an exhibition of Inuit stone sculpture from the Smithsonian collections at the Canadian Embassy. Northern Spirits - Selected Works of Inuit Art was a showcase for the Joseph Hirshhorn collection of Inuit art, much of it derived from the early 1 960's from the heady early period of "modern" Inuit art when the work and the artists were just beginning to be recognized. The exhibition grew out of the interest and enthusiasm of Curtis Barlow, the Embassy's Counsellor of Cultural Affairs. To augment the exhibition of early Inuit stone carvings Barlow arranged for Judith Varney Burch of Richmond, Virginia to display a number of Inuit cloth wall-hangings from Baker Lake. The pairing of the robust stone sculptures in their display cases and pedestals with the bright cloth wall-hangings made for a fabulous emersion into the world of Canadian Inuit artists that caught many visitors by surprise. The exhibit also marked the beginning of what has proved to be a long-lasting, close working relationship between the Arctic Studies Center and Judy Burch.

At the time of the Embassy exhibit Judy had already enjoyed a long collaborative relation with the Canadian Embassy and following upon the ASC exhibit we subsequently established a cooperative relationship based on our shared interests in the Canadian Arctic, and in particular with Inuit artists. Judy is very much a pivotal figure in the Arctic Studies Center family of colleagues and we have asked her to comment on her life and interest in Inuit Art and to prepare a brief account of her recent, and remarkable, journeys on behalf of Canadian Inuit Art.

Judy writes: My experience with Inuit art began in Nova Scotia 25 years ago. Maria von Finckenstein, Inuit Art curator at The Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, was head of the Inuit art section of the Bureau of Indian and Northern Affairs. I noted to Maria that the art seemed to surge from Inuit people's relationships with land. Of course, she said there is only one way to understand the power of this connection for Inuit people ... to go North. Maria helped me submit a grant and three months later I was on a six week study and adventure in the Arctic.

Early experiences had attracted me to people at society's edges - a childhood in a small Illinois farm town, a Sociology major at Duke University, and my first career in community service at the YWCA. Later, while raising children, I connected to fine art as a powerful source of cultural expression and reflection through my years of involvement with museums, including The Delaware Art Center, Winterthur and The
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

On my first trip North I went hunting with men at the floe edge. I held long conversations (often through interpreters) with mothers holding young babies I discussed beliefs and life with anyone willing. While in the North I traveled with photographs of Inuit art that helped to open doors and start conversations.

I have since seized every opportunity to bring artists South. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts interviewed and filmed visiting artists. Artists whom I have invited to exhibit in the United States, include Kananginak Pootoogook, Pitaloosie Saila, Germaine Arnaktauyok, and Bill Nasogaluak. On one occasion, 400 guests at the University of Richmond were enthralled by throat singers and a drum dancer Another event showcased tapestry weavers from Pangnirtung, giving them a chance to exhibit their work internationally and visit the weaving department at Virginia Commonwealth University

One memorable moment occurred during a visit by Kenojouak Ashevaak and Jimmy Manning to our home. They got into a disagreement in Inuktitut in the midst of the dinner party in their honor. When I asked Jimmy what was troubling him, he said Kenojouak was sure they were eating polar bear, but Jimmy was sure it was grizzly! Our plain old pot roast had never risen to such heights!

At the University of Virginia's Art Museum, we introduced Cape Dorset prints, Pangnirtung tapestries and sculpture by Inuit artists whose works are cherished throughout the world We held a symposium at UVA involving Bill Fitzhugh, Norman Hallendy and Stephen Loring.

Over time, I was asked to curate Inuit art events at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Through Embassy exhibitions I grew to know Stephen Loring and Bill Fitzhugh. Building on our relationship, I was invited to speak at the Smithsonian on April I, 1999, during the National Museum of Natural History/Canadian Embassy celebration of Nunavut. 'Through the ASC I also was invited to serve as a guest lecturer On the Smithsonian Associates Travel tour ~ of the Eastern Arctic on the ship LeLevant We continued this program the next year on the Russian ice breaker | Akademik Joffe on the western coast of | Greenland and Baffin Island

I am delighted to have assembled several special collections of Inuit art over the past 25 years. Recently, two of these collections have been traveling between museums internationally

One body of Inuit work, a collection | of prints by Jessie Oonark, can be seen at | museums under the title "Power of Thought " A large number of Jessie Oonark's prints (40) are assembled in a catalogued exhibition that has traveled in Canada and throughout the United States, including venues at Kowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, Kresge Art Museum in Michigan, Utah Museum of Fine Art and the Fowler Museum of Culture and Art at UCLA.

Another special collection is now catalogued in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Baker Lake textiles are powerful statements of Inuit culture and imagination, as creative as any works of stone or paper. An exhibition of these textiles under the caption "Culture on Cloth" is traveling currently among museums around the world. 'I he exhibition opened at the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

The Baker Lake Wall Hanging collection has been exhibited at the following venues: The Alhondigo Guanajauto, Mexico, Oct. 2002; Obispado Museum - Monterrey, Mexico, Feb 2003; Museum of Anthropology - Mexico City, May 2003; Echigo Tsumarii Festival- Niigata Japan, July 2003; Keumsan Gallery -Seoul, Korea, Oct. 2003; Tokyo Gas and Power- Tokyo, April 2004; Beijing Capital Library - Beijing, Nov. 2004; Nationalities Museum - Kunming, China, Nov. 2004.

According to the Canadian Embassy in China, this was the first exhibition of Canadian aboriginal art in the Chinese capital. Nearly seven thousand residents attended it though held after the Chinese national holiday. As of today, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has expressed interest in sending the exhibition throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.

The special collections described above as well as individual pieces for purchase can be accessed by our galleries in Canada or the United States and at www.arcticinuitart.com.

An abstracted portion of the "official report" of Judy's Chinese tour follows:

On October 12, Canada's Ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China, Joseph Caron opened the exhibition with VlPs from Chinese government and key cultural and arts institutions. Along with national flags, the territorial flag of Nunavut was displayed in the exhibition hall. A CD of aboriginal throat singers resounded in the exhibition hall, while a large screen projected a documentary film on Inuit cultural and daily life. To reinforce China-Canadian values and our long-standing commitment for a dynamic, multi-cultural and innovative society with strong people-to-people ties, BEJING successfully invited a wide spectrum of local contacts and VIPs (government, business, academic, and arts & culture) to attend the opening ceremony including senior of ficials from the Ministry of Culture, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, presidents from universities and colleges, curators, influential Chinese cultural organizations, and representatives from the Central Committee of Communist Party of China. Following the inauguration Judith Varney Burch gave a lecture at the library.

Ms. Varney Burch delivered two lectures on aboriginal arts - "Art as the Eye of a Culture" at the library and the Central University of Nationality. In total over two hundred people attended these lectures. During her presentation, she introduced the Canadian Inuit people and their art, and explained how the aboriginal women made their art and the significance of the symbols to Inuit people. At the Central University of Nationalities, where the student body has a high percentage of Chinese ethnic minorities, the C! and A session was dominated by enquiries about the current status of Canada's aboriginal people. The Canadian curator noted in her replies that the Canadian government has provided great support to the Inuit people and other aboriginal peoples but also noted the history of government policies and programs. She candidly remarked that Canada's treatment of its aboriginal peoples is not without controversy, our message being that others can learn from our mistakes, we are not perfect

The round table discussion at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) was lively, as the Chinese scholars presented at the meeting were all scholars engaged in ethnological and anthropological studies. They exchanged views regarding aboriginal peoples and introduced the status of ethnic people in China. One professor who specialists in shamanism studies remarked that the beliefs of Canadian Inuit people are similar to the shamanism religion which is respected among some Chinese ethnic peoples.