Mar 14, 2023
The history of mokuhanga in Canada is small, yet strong. There
are Canadian mokuhanga printmakers who have helped grow the art
form in Canada and throughout the world, such as Walter J. Phillips
(1884-1963), David Bull, Elizabeth Forrest, Barbara Wybou, to name
but a few. But what if there was a tradition of printmaking you
could never think have a connection with Japanese mokuhanga,
thriving and growing in the Canadian Arctic?
Norman Vorano is the Associate Professor of Art History and Head
of the Department of Art History and Conservation at Queen's
University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. In 2011 Norman published a
book, with essays by Asato Ikeda, and Ming Tiampo, Inuit
Prints: Japanese Inspiration.
This book opened me to the world of how various print
traditions, so far away from each other, could influence one
another. In this case, the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic in what is
now known as Kinngait, have built one of the most thriving and
economically sustainable print traditions in the world. But what I
didn't know is that mokuhanga and the Japanese print tradition had
a huge part to play in their early success.
I speak with Professor Norman Vorano about Inuit history and
culture, how the Inuit print tradition began, how an artist from
Toronto made his way to the Arctic, then to Japan, then back to the
arctic, changing everything. Norman also speaks on how the work of
sōsaku hanga printmaker U'nichi Hiratsuka influenced the early
Inuit printmakers, and we discuss tools, pigments, and the
globalization of art.
Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own
mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or
email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com
Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on
the highlighted word or phrase.
Artists works follow
after the note. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise
noted.
Norman Vorano PhD - is Associate Professor of
Art History and Head of the Department of Art History and
Conservation at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
For more information about Inuit printmaking and their association
with mokuhanga you can get Norman's book, Inuit
Prints: Japanese Inspiration (2011). For additonal information
about Inuit printmaking and mokuhanga, Norman lectured on the
subject for The Japan Foundation Toronto in 2022. The online
lecture can be found, here.
A few topics that Norman and I really didn't have a chance to
explore, but alluded too, was process. As wood is scarce in the
Arctic, stone carving (soapstone), and linocuts are and were used.
Also there is a chain within Inuit printmaking much like the
hanmoto system of mokuhanga in Japan, where the Print
Studio chooses images drawn by others in the community and those
images are carved and printed by carvers and printers associated
with the Print Studio in the Kenojuak Cultural Center in Kinngait,
and then sold to the public.
Queens University at Kingston - is a public
research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. What
began as a school for the Church of Scotland in 1841 has developed
into a multi faculty university. More info can be found on their
website, here.
Canadian Museum of History - one of Canada’s
oldest museums the CMH focuses on Canadian and world history,
ethnology, and archeology. The museum is located in Gatineau,
Québec, Canada. More info can be found on their website, here.
The Eastern Arctic of Canada - is a portion of
the Arctic archipelago, a chain of islands (2,400 km or 1,500 mi)
and parts of Québec and Labrador, located throughout the northern
portion of the country of Canada. The Eastern portion discsussed in
the episode is comprised of Baffin Island (Qikiqtaaluk - ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ), and Kinngait (Cape
Dorset).
Kinngait (ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) - is located on Dorset Island
at the southern part of Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut,
Canada. It was called Cape Dorset until 2020, when it was
renamed “high mountain” in the Inuktitut language.
Distant Early Warning Line (DEW)- was a radar
system located in the Arctic regions in Canada, the Aleutian
Islands of Alaska, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. Its
purpose was to help detect any aggression, militarily, from the
then Soviet Union. This system was overseen by the Royal Canadian
Air Force and the United States Air Force. It ceased activity in
1993.
The Canadian Guild of Crafts - also known as La
Guilde, was established in 1906 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. It has
focused its work on preserving First Nations crafts and arts. It
began working with James Houston (1921-2005) in 1948, having the
first Inuit exhibition in 1949 showcasing Inuit carving and other
crafts. It exists and works today. More information can be found,
here.
James Archibald Houston - was a Canadian
artist who worked and lived in Kinngait (Cape Dorset) until 1962.
He worked with La Guilde and the Hudson’s Bay Company, bringing
Inuit arts and crafts to an international community starting in
1948 through to the Cape Dorset co-operative of the 1950’s. His
work in helping to make Inuit art more commerical for the Inuit
people has been documented in Norman Vorano’s book, Inuit Prints:
Japanese Inspiration (2011), as well as several articles from La
Guilde, which can be found, here.
Drum Dancer (1955) - chalk on paper
West Baffin Eskimo Co-Operative - is the
co-operative on Kinngait (Cape Dorset) established in 1959 and
created by the Department of Natural Resources and Northern
Development represented by Don Snowden and Alexander Sprudz, with
James Houston. It focuses on drawings, prints, and carvings. More
info can be found on their website, here.
The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development - in 2019 it was replaced by the Department of
Indigenous Services Canada. The ISC is a government department
whose responsibility is to colaborate and have an open dialogue
with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada.
Terry Ryan (1933-2017) - was an artist and the
arts director of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-Op in 1960 and General
Manager in 1962. His work with the Cape Dorset Print Studio,
bringing artists from all over Canada, helped to push the studio’s
work throughout the world. There is a fine Globe and Mail article
about Terry Ryan's life and accomplishments, which can be found
here.
Kenojuak Cultural Center - is located in
Kinngait, and was opened in 2018 with a space of 10,440 sq ft. The
KCC is a community center and space for sharing. It has a large
printmaking studio, meeting spaces and exhibition spaces for work
as well as a permanent gallery. It is associated with the West
Baffin Eskimo Co-Operative.
Early Inuit Art - for more information
regarding early Inuit art on record, from first European contact,
La Guilde discusse this very topic in their article Going
North: A Beautiful Endeavor, here.
Grand-Mère, Québec - is a city in the province
of Québec in Canada. Located in the region of Maricie, with a
population of around 14,000. It was founded in 1898 and is made
famous for the rock formation which shares its name. Grand Mère
means ‘grandmother.’ It is known for hunting and fishing
tourism.
The Group of
Seven - were a group of landscape painters from Canada.
The artists were, Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris
(1885–1970), A.Y. Jackson 1882–1974), Frank Johnston
(1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J.E.H MacDonald
(1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). Later, A.J. Casson
(1898–1992) was invited to join in 1926, Edwin Holdgate (1892–1977)
became a member in 1930, and LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined
in 1932. While Tom Thomspon (1877–1917), and Emily Carr (1871–1945)
were not "official" members it is generally accepted that they were
a part of the group because of their individual relationships with
the other member of the group. More info can be found, here. A fine article on the CBC
by Cree writer Matteo Cimellaro, discusses the role The
Group of Seven played in Canadian nationalism and the exclusion of
First Nation's voices in their work. This can be
found,
here.
Tom Thompson - The Jack Pine (1916-1917)
Moosonee, Ontario - is a town located in
Northern Ontario, Canada. It was first settled in 1903, and is
located on the Moose River. It’s history was of trapping, and is a
gateway to the Arctic. English and Cree is spoken.
Moose Factory, Ontario - is a town first
settled in 1673, and was the first English speaking town in
Ontario. Much like Moosonee, Moose Factory has a history of fur
trading, in this case by the Hudsons Bay Company. Like Moosonee
there is a tourist industry based on hunting and fishing. The
population is predominantly Cree.
Cree (ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐤ) - are a Canadian First
Nation's people who have lived on the land for centuries. Their
people are divided into eight groups through region and dialect of
language:
Attikamekw
James Bay Cree
Moose Cree
Swampy Cree
Woods Cree
Plains Cree
Naskapi and Montagnais
(Innu)
John Buchan (Lord Tweedsmuire, 1875-1940) -
was the 15th Governor General of Canada serving from 1935-1940 (his
death). He was born in Scotland, but committed himself to Canada
when taking to his position as Governor General. He was also a
writer of almost 30 novels.
sōsaku-hanga - or creative prints, is a style
of printmaking which is predominantly, although not exclusively,
prints made by one person. It started in the early twentieth
century in Japan, in the same period as the shin-hanga movement.
The artist designs, carves, and prints their own works. The
designs, especially in the early days, may seem rudimentary but the
creation of self-made prints was a breakthrough for printmakers
moving away from where only a select group of carvers, printers and
publishers created woodblock prints.
Un'ichi Hiratsuka (平塚 運一) - (1895-1977) - was
one of the important players of the sōsaku hanga movement in
mokuhanga. Hiratsuka was a proponent of self carved and self
printed mokuhanga, and taught one of the most famous sōsaku hanga
printmakers in Shikō Munakata (1903-1975). He founded the Yoyogi
Group of artists and also taught mokuhanga at the Tōkyō School of
Fine Arts. Hiratsuka moved to Washington D.C in 1962 where he lived
for over thirty years. His mokuhanga was multi colour and
monochrome touching on various subjects and is highly collected
today.
Mara Cape, Izu (1929)
Munakata Shikō (志功棟方) - (1903-1975)
arguably one of the most famous modern printmakers, Shikō is famous
for his prints of women, animals, the supernatural and Buddhist
deities. He made his prints with an esoteric fervour where his
philosophies about mokuhanga were just as interesting as his print
work.
Castle ca 1960's
Venice Bienale - is a contemporary art
exhibition that takes place in Venice, Italy and which explores
various genres of art, architecture, dance, cinema and theatre. It
began in 1895. More info,
here.
Sao Paolo Biennal - is held in Sao Paolo,
Brazil and is the second oldest art bienale in the world. The Sao
Paulo Biennal began in 1951. It’s focus is on international artists
and Brazilian artists. More info can be found,
here.
German Expressionism - was produced from the
early twentieth century to the 1930's and focused on emotional
expression rather than realistic expression. German Expressionists
explored their works with colour and shape searching for a
“primitive aesthetic” through experimentation. More info can be
found,
here, on Artsy.net
Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) : Poster for the First Exhibition
of The Phalanx, lithograph 1901.
Yanagi Sōetsu (1889-1961) - was an art critic,
and art philosopher in Japan, who began writing and lecturing in
the 1920’s. In 1925 he coined the term mingei (rural
crafts), which he believed represented the “functional beauty” and
traditional soul of Japan. While on paper an anti-fascist, Yanagi’s
early views on the relationship of art and people, focusing on the
group and not the individual, going back to a Japanese aesthetic;
veering away from Western modernity, was used by Japanese fascists
leading up to and during the Pacific War (1941-1945). For more
information about Yanagi and the mingei movement in Japan
during war time check out The Culture of Japanese Fascism, Alan
Tasman ed. (2009)
mingei movement - began with the work of
Yanagi Sōetsu in the 1920’s. The movement wanted to return to a
Japanese aesthetic which honoured the past and preserved the idea
of the “everyday craftsman,” someone who went away from
industrialization and modernity, and fine art by professional
artists. It was heavily influenced by the European Arts and Crafts
Movement (1880-1920) as conceived by Augustus Pugin (1812-1852),
John Ruskin (1819-1900), and William Morris
(1834-1896).
Oliver Statler (1915-2002) - was an
American author and scholar and collector of mokuhanga. He had been
a soldier in World War 2, having been stationed in Japan. After his
time in the war Statler moved back to Japan where he wrote about
Japanese prints. His interests were of many facets of Japanese
culture such as accommodation, and the 88 Temple Pilgrimage of
Shikoku. Oliver Statler, in my opinion, wrote one of the most
important books on the sōsaku-hanga movement, “Modern Japanese
Prints: An Art Reborn.”
Stuben Glass Works - is a manufacturer of
glass works, founded in 1903 in New York City. It is known for its
high quality glass production working with talented glass
designers.
Ainu - are a First Nations peoples with a
history to Japan going back centuries. They traditionally live in
the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido as well as the northern
prefectures of Honshū. There are approximately 24,000 Ainu in
Japan. Made famous for the face, hand and wrist tattooing of Ainu
women, as well as animist practices, the Ainu are a distinct
culture from the Japanese. There has been some attempts by the
Japanese goverment to preserve Ainu heritage and language but the
Ainu people are still treated as second class citizens without the
same rights and prvileges of most Japanese. More information about
the Ainu can be found at the World Directory of Minorities and
Indigenous People,
here.
baren - is a Japanese word to describe the
flat, round shaped disc which is predominantly used in the creation
of Japanese woodblock prints. It is traditionally made of cord of
various types, and a bamboo sheath, although baren come in many
variations.
Keisuke
Serizawa (1895-1984) - was a textile designer who was a
Living National Treaure in Japan. He had a part in the
mingei movement where he studied
Okinawan bingata fabric stencil dying techniques. He
also used katazome stencil dying technqiues on paper in
the calendars he made, beginning in 1946.
Happiness - date unknown:
it is an ita-e (板絵) work, meaning a work painted on a
piece of wood, canvas, metal etc.
National Museum of
Ethnology (Minpaku) - is a research institute and public
museum located on the old Expo ’70 grounds in the city of Suita,
Osaka Prefecture. It provides a graduate program for national and
international students, doctorate courses, as well as various
exhibitions. More information can be found on their website,
here.
Prince Takamado Gallery - is a gallery
located in the Canadian Embassy in Tōkyō. It has a revolving
exhibition schedule. It is named after Prince Takamado (1954-2002),
the third son of Prince Mikasa Takahito (1916-2016). More info can
be found,
here.
Carlton University - is a public resesarch
university located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in
1942 in order to provide a serivce for returning World War II
veterans. More information about the university can be found,
here.
Kenojuak Ashavak (1927-2013) - was an Inuit
graphic designer and artist born in Ikirisaq, Baffin Island. She
moved to Kinngait (Cape Dorset) in 1966. Kanojuak Ashavek has made
some of the most iconic imagery of Inuit art in Canadian history.
One of her images, The Enchanted Owl was the subject of a TV
Ontario short from TVO Today, and can be found
here. The famous
National Film Board of Canada documentary (1963) about her and her
work can be found,
here.
Luminous Char, stonecut and stencil, 2008. © Dorset Fine
Arts
Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration -
was an Inuit print exhibtion at the Prince Takamado Gallery
held at the Canadian Embassy in Tōkyō in 2011. It later toured
across Canada.
Osaki washi - is a paper making family
located in Kōchi, Japan. His paper has been provided to Inut
printmakers for many years. The print by Kenojuak Ashavak, and
printed by Qiatsuq Niviaksi, was the one aluded to in
Norman’s interview as hanging on the washi makers wall.
Norman discusses, near the end of the interview, about how
Inuit leaders were stripped of their power. The Canadian government
instituted more policing in post war Canada, especially during the
Cold War. The RCMP and other government officials used colonial
practices such as policing, culturally and criminally, to impose
Canadian practices from the South onto the Inuit.
Pitaloosie Saila - Undersea Illusion, lithograph
2012
Lukta Qiatsuk (1928-2004)
Owl - Stonecut print on paper, 1959.
Canadian Museum of History Collection, © Dorset Fine Arts.
Kananginak Pootoogook (1935-2010)
Evening Shadow: stone cut and stencil, 2010
© Dorset Fine Arts
Eegyvudluk Pootoogook (1931-1999)
Eegyvudluk Pootoogook w/ Iyola Kingwatsiaq , 1960, photo by
Rosemary Gilliat Eaton, Library and Canadian Archives.
Our First Wooden Home: lithograph, 1979.
Eskimo Legend: Owl, Fox, and Hare - stencil print, 1959
Canadian Museum of History Collection © Dorset Fine
Arts.
Iyola Kingwatsiak (1933-2000)
Circle of Birds: stencil on paper, 1965
© Popular Wheat Productions
opening and closing musical credit - From Professor Henry D.
Smith II, lecture entitled, The Death of Ukiyo-e and the
Mid-Meiji Birth of International Mokuhanga, as told at
the 4th International Mokuhanga Conference in Nara in November,
2021.
logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André
Zadorozny
Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this
podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written
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If you find any issue with something in the show notes please
let me know.
***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print
podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular
Wheat Productions.***
All photos of Inuit artists and works of Inuit artists
have been either provided by Norman Vorano, or have been sourced
from elsewhere. These are used for educational purposes only. Any
issues please reach out.
