For this international MUN student, Inuit art exhibit is a chance to unlearn and relearn region's culture

I recently went to The Rooms in St. John's, to see a new exhibition I had been looking forward to viewing, called Helping Hands: 30 Years at Kinngait Studios.

Master printmaker William Ritchie kept a copy of every print he worked on at the studio in Nunavut. His donation of nearly 400 prints — by dozens of Inuit artists — is one of the largest and most significant ever made to The Rooms, the cultural complex that houses Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial gallery, museum and archives. 

I'm both an international student and an art lover, so viewing this exhibition was a chance to educate myself — to learn the different stories these prints illustrate, and the unique culture they showcase.

It was an informative, inspiring and culturally rich experience, one that pushed me to do my own research, especially on the avataq, which is a sealskin float.

The uniqueness of the display stood out to me. It inspired me to have meaningful conversations about seal hunting, to read about the whales in the Kinngait community, to unlearn and relearn the region's Inuit culture, and to share what I have gathered with my family and close friends.

If you have not seen the exhibition yet, I hope you do.

It expresses contemporary Inuit identity and everyday reality, which is an educational creative work as well as an opportunity to support and share the beautiful messages of the artists.

Two pieces that really spoke to me were Bird's Eye View and Helping Hands.

They paint a vivid picture of the Kinngait community and the teamwork consolidated within Kinngait Studios. Bird's Eye View illustrates an aerial view of a pod of whales. It's an abstract composition, showing the perspective of something flying above the whales. The main element of the artwork — the pod of whales — explains to viewers the Kinngait community is a whaling community, where you can spot belugas coming into the harbour during the fall.

From this artwork, I learned the Kinngait landscape is dotted with beluga whales from which the artist has drawn inspiration. I feel that it also highlights how symbolic, representative and culturally important beluga whales are for the artist to capture the scenery.

Likewise, the Helping Hands piece showcases many hands stretching forward in the same direction, outlining the many hands that make the Kinngait Studios. Although an experimental composition, to me it portrays the genuine solidarity among the artists and the due recognition and celebration of everyone's contributions at the Kinngait Studios.

Finally, Avataq — an installation of 18 handmade foil, helium balloons resembling an avataq — was another powerful highlight.

It not only celebrates the region's Inuit culture but also creates the focus on meaningful conversations about the seal hunt, the international ban on products made of sealskin and the destructive effects of the ban on livelihoods in the North.

The installation tells the story of seal hunting, and the swaying balloons bring the activity to life: the flipper-like limbs, the screen-printed sealskin texture, the inflated balloon symbolic of the hunter's breath inside the full skin of the animal, the strings symbolizing harpoons, which the hunter uses to catch their prey and track it through water once harpooned.