ARTH 376 - Topics In Amerindian and Inuit Art: Introduction to Circumpolar Inuit Art

• W - 15:00-17:30
• EV-1.615
• INSTRUCTOR: DR. HEATHER IGLOLIORTE

This course presents a comprehensive overview of the broad scope of Inuit artistic productions, including the long-maintained practices of performance, storytelling, sewing, body art, basketry and carving, and now also the contemporary art practices of drawing, photography, filmmaking and other digital media. The historic development of these various art forms will be examined in social, political, economic and cultural context, and related to artistic practices and social movements in both the modern North and urban Inuit centres in the South. This course will draw on postcolonial and Indigenous art theories, Canadian art history, and Inuit research methodologies in order to illuminate how the complex history of contact, trade, cultural imperialism and Inuit resistance strategies have shaped the production of art in the circumpolar Arctic (and how art-making, in turn, influences Northern culture, society, political movements and economic action).

Students will be introduced to the role of Inuit art as a repository for cultural knowledge, an expression of identity, a marker of cultural resilience and a means for maintaining cultural sovereignty in the post-colonial world, as well as the multitude of other meanings attributed to the art forms and contributing to their critical and popular success. Throughout the course, attention will be paid to the complex interplay between transcultural forces and colonial legacies, Inuit society, individual talent and community identity. This course will consider how the production of Inuit art has played an integral role in fostering and safeguarding Inuit cultural knowledge throughout a long history of contact and exchange, demonstrating the continuity, innovation, and resilience of Inuit culture.