Paris: a rare exhibition dedicated to Inuit art opens at the Canadian Cultural Centre, our photos

Are you fascinated by the culture of Canada's Far North? If so, you're in for a treat! Throughout the year, the Canadian Cultural Centre hosts a wide range of events. Located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, the Canadian Cultural Centre makes a point of taking us on a journey to the other side of the Atlantic through a series of exhibitions, meetings, concerts and film and documentary screenings... all free of charge!

After exhibiting unusual works on theimmigrant experience, offering an immersive sound experience, transporting us to the Arctic with Emmanuelle Léonard and thrilling us with an installation on the Games, the Canadian Cultural Centre is now taking us to Nunavut to discover Inuit art !

Entitled " An Inuit art cooperative in Canada's far north: Kinngait, Nunavut. The Claude Baud and Michel Jacot Collection ", this installation immerses us in the art of Kinngait, formerly Cape Dorset, Nunavut. This small Inuit village on Dorset Island, south-east of the coast of Baffin Island's Foxe Peninsula, is well known to Inuit art lovers. It is here that many artists - sculptors, draftsmen and master engravers - have practised their art, and some continue to do so. These include Paulassie Pootoogook (1927-2006) and his sister Sharni Pootoogook (1922-2003), as well as Pauta Saila (1916-2009), famous for his dancing bear sculptures, Pitaloosie Saila (1942-2021) and Kenojuak Ashevak (1927-2013).

This autumn and winter, the Canadian Cultural Centre is celebrating Inuit art with a rare, free exhibition for lovers and enthusiasts of northern culture. If you prefer contemporary installations, you'll have to pass.

On view from October 2, 2024 to January 17, 2025, this exhibition celebrates the 25th anniversary of the founding of the territory of Nunavut, Canada, and the 60th anniversary of Kinngait's West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. The West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative has a solid international reputation for the prints, drawings and sculptures created by its Inuit artist members.

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So, what can we expect? The Canadian Cultural Centre has decided to re-deploy its historic exhibition created in 2013, dubbed " Fantastique Kenojuak Ashevak ". The installation is enriched for the occasion by an ensemble of prints and sculptures from the Claude Baud and Michel Jacot collection. The Franco-Swiss collecting duo are renowned for their contribution to the recognition of Canadian Inuit art in France.

This artistic cooperation features works by Kenojuak Ashevak, Mayoreak Ashoona, Kingmeata Etidlooie, Oqutaq Mikkigak, Kananginak Pootoogook, Pudlo Pudlat, Kellypalik Qimirpik, Lucy Qinuajuak, Pitaloosie Saila and Ningiukulu Teevee.

The exhibition also features a collection of previously unseen works by the renowned Shuvinai Ashoona, granddaughter of Pitseolak Ashoona (1904-1983), a leading figure in the first generation of artists from the Kinngait cooperative.

Nearly 130 works are on display at the Canadian Cultural Centre. They are displayed in the basement and on the first floor of the building. Works are grouped alternately by artist, by theme (owls, ravens, musk buffalo, Arctic ocean spirits, legends and cosmogony, old and new worlds), but also by stylistic and formal structure or resonance. These include mirror compositions, metamorphic sculptures, etchings and aquatints on paper, and numerous stone engravings.

Our gaze is quickly drawn to Pudlo Pudlat's impressive musk oxen, Kananginak Pootoogook's fleeing caribou, Ningeokuluk Teevee 's curious and endearing bear or Kenojuak Ashevak 's gathering of throat singers; a sublime lithograph on paper depicting female faces facing each other and practicing the famous " katajjaq ".

Also worthy of mention is " Rabbit feeding on seaweed ". Considered one of the smallest works in the exhibition in terms of size (33 x 23.5 cm), it is nevertheless a real eye-catcher. This work by Kenojuak Ashevak is part of the first collection of engravings published by the Kinngait cooperative. It is also the oldest (1958) in the Baud-Jacot collection presented this autumn at the Canadian Cultural Centre.

We continue our visit upstairs and discover two inks by Shuvinai Ashoona, exhibited for the first time. These bring us closer to the daily life of the Inuit people today. Next door is a 1974 work by his grandmother, Pitseolak Ashoona, entitled " Campeurs l'été / Summer Campers ".

Several sculptures are also featured, including the Inuit woman by Ashevak Tunnillie, the drum dancers by Shorty Killiktee and the bird by Pootoogook Qiatsuk.

Finally, don't miss the videos by Kineta Mathewsie. This young Inuit film student at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology took advantage of her internship in Kinngait in the summer of 2024 to shoot a few images, offering visitors a glimpse of the village context from which all the works in the exhibition originate.

All these works, rarely exhibited in France, are an opportunity to immerse yourself in the rich culture of the Inuit people, and to learn more about the small village of Kinngait, a veritable cradle of Inuit art nestled in Canada's Far North.

For a surprising and fascinating immersion in Inuit art, visit the Canadian Cultural Centre from October 2, 2024 to January 17, 2025. Admission to the exhibition is free. Please note that guided tours by the curator are also available ( bookable here).