Setting up a Summer Camp

Description

‘Setting up a Summer Camp‘ by Kananginak Pootoogook, RCA – Inuit Art – Cape Dorset 1976 print collection by Dorset Fine Arts, presented by DaVic Gallery of Native Canadian Arts.

Condition:          Good condition – professionally restored for browning of the paper and light wrinkling of the paper overall as well as removal of two strips of framing tape in upper left and right areas verso.  Paper has been reinforced with further backing paper.  Image is clean and strong.  Kinngait studios chop faintly faded.

Description by Artist:     No description by artist found.

Notes from DaVic Gallery:   So much detail captured in this stonecut print where one can see even the hairs on the fur coats and the seal-skin tent.  Tools, kayak, floating inflated sealskin, hunting tools, all most likely created from animal parts including skin, bones, tusks, etc.  One woman wearing amauti is cutting steaks off the seal caught hanging them to dry while the man is cutting firewood.  Hunting camps are temporary locations for strategic hunting of sea mammals or for land mammals on migration paths.

Summer turns this area into the land of the midnight sun and this activity could take place with full sun-light in the middle of the night.  Look long and in detail and find your story behind this moment.  In many cases, it would be groups of families traveling together and collaborating for a successful hunt for the community and in some cases like we see here it is a single family, a couple, traveling alone for hunting.  In such travels, this couple would likely not run into other people in the same area for the duration of their trip.

Reference picture # 4 for size reference with letter size paper.