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PAST AND PRESENT
Collecting Inuit Art The evolution of contemporary Canadian Inuit art reflects significant changes in the Arctic world over the past century. With the transition from a migratory hunting lifestyle to permanent settlement residence in the mid-twentieth century, sculptures of greater scale and complexity could be conceived for the first time. As the Inuit art market developed, the creation of works of art could replace the traditional role of the hunter as a means of providing for the family. Art forms such as limited edition prints, textiles, ceramics and metalwork allowed artists to diversify traditional means of artistic expression. The rapid pace of change in the Arctic over the past half-century has shaped several unique characteristics of the Inuit art market. In the earlier years works were often unsigned and not well documented. It is therefore not uncommon to find anonymous, exquisite Inuit sculpture with a significant value despite 'artist unknown' status. The twin barriers of distance and language still separate the artist and the collector today, as many Inuit - particularly the older generation - speak only Inuktitut. As early as the 1950s, some predicted that Inuit sculpture would lose its distinctive qualities and fall prey to commercialization. This has not occurred; however, a gap has opened between fine art and simple tourist art. The gap continues to widen, as a result of a strong cottage industry relying upon a derivative, repetitive formula. Such copying of successful formulas is certainly not a peculiarity of Inuit sculpture, but a by-product of any popular art market. This tourist art is 'original' and can bear the Igloo Tag that has been used to indicate authenticity, but generally has little artistic merit and therefore little residual value. Although Inuit artists were encouraged to make drawings primarily as material for the printmaking programme from the 1950's on, only in the last two decades have these been perceived as valuable art works in their own right. In contrast, there has been very extensive documentation of Inuit prints, contributing to a unique economic phenomenon: a significant print may have a higher value than an original drawing by the same artist. This anomaly, specific to the Inuit art market, is beginning to correct itself.
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