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KANANGINAK POOTOOGOOK (1935 - ) |
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A prominent community leader, Kananginak was instrumental in the formation of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative graphic arts program at Cape Dorset, and served for many years as President of its Board of Directors. An accomplished printmaker, Kananginak has been producing drawings and prints for the Cape Dorset Graphic Arts program since the late 1950s; his work has been included in almost every annual collection since that time. His first print, a collaborative image with his father, Pootoogook, was included in the first catalogued collection of Cape Dorset prints in 1959. Kananginak's work has also been featured in numerous exhibitions, in both public institutions and commercial galleries. Kananginak and his siblings grew up primarily at Ikirisaq camp, where their father was the respected camp leader. Kananginak married Shooyoo from Cape Dorset in the mid-1950s. They lived at Ikirisaq until 1958 when they moved to Cape Dorset because of Pootoogook's failing health. Kananginak is highly skilled at representing Arctic wildlife in his work. He is especially capable of drawing the many species of birds that frequent the Arctic. In more recent years he has focused on the material culture of the Inuit, producing realistic, narrative drawings of camp and hunting scenes. In 1997 Romeo Leblanc, the Governor General of Canada commissioned Kananginak to construct an Inukshuk as part of a tribute to Native people in Canada. The Inukshuk, which was built in Cape Dorset, was disassembled and shipped to Ottawa where Kananginak and his son Johnny re-assembled it on the grounds of Rideau Hall.
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