Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art

The treasures of the world's largest public collection of Inuit art are revealed in this seminal history of art from the Arctic.

The collection of Inuit art held by the Winnipeg Art Gallery, one of Canada's most important public galleries, is extraordinary by any standard: its geographic range, diverse media and size have brought international renown to the collection of some 11,000 artworks. The wag celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2012-13 and this book, as well as a major exhibition from January 24 to April 17, 2013, will feature many of the gallery's treasures as it marks this important milestone.

Creation and Transformation is a major art book that describes the genesis and evolution of contemporary Inuit art from 1949 to the present day: from carvers in the 1950s, such as Johnny Inukpuk, to later storytellers in stone, such as Davidialuk Alasua Amittu, and in whale bone such as Karoo Ashevak; from pioneer graphic artist Jessie Oonark, to graphic artists working today in new and personal idioms, such as Shuvinai Ashoona. The book is a celebration of creativity that has had many transformations over six decades.

Organized chronologically, this remarkable volume will constitute a new historical narrative of a contemporary art form as revealed in essays by international authorities led by Winnipeg Art Gallery's curator of Inuit art, Darlene Coward Wight, and explored through the personal insights of the artists themselves. Expertly designed and produced, this book features 150 colour and archival images.

Susan Gustavison, an independent curator in Toronto, was Curator of Inuit and First Nations Art at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario.

Ingo Hessel is the Albrecht Adjunct Curator of Inuit Art at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. His publications include the seminal Inuit Art: An Introduction, Arctic Spirit and Sanattiaqsimajut: Inuit Art from the Carleton University Art Gallery Collection. He curated the exhibition Arctic Spirit for the Heard Museum, which toured to ten cities across North America from 2006 to 2009. For twelve years he was Special Projects Officer and Coordinator of the Inuit Art Section in the Canadian Government's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, which published his educational booklet Canadian Inuit Sculpture in eight languages. Ingo Hessel is also a sculptor who has had many solo exhibitions in Canada and Japan.

Christine Lalonde is the Associate Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Norman Vorano is the Curator of Contemporary Inuit Art at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

Darlene Coward Wight has been Curator of Inuit Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery since 1986 and in that time has curated seventy-five exhibitions, some of which have toured throughout Canada and in Europe. She has written and edited eighteen exhibition catalogues, including the award-winning Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture, 1949-1955 (2006) and The Harry Winrob Collection of Inuit Sculpture (2008).