ANNIE MIKPIGA (NUTARAALUK; NUVALINGA; MIKIAGAG; MIKPIGAK; MIPICA;
ANNI; INNERJUAK; NIKPIGA; AANI)
Born: 1900 Female E9-1389
Place of Birth: Akua near Puvirnituq
Died: March, 1984
Resided: Puvirnituq
Prints, Printmaking, Crafts
Annie's parents were Sandy Nuvalinga and Lydia Qinnalu. She and her
husband Nataraalu, who died in 1955, had six children between 1922 and 1945,
the oldest and youngest of whom were thought to be one and the same person
through a miracle of rebirth. When "miracle baby" Caroline Angutigalu was
born on February 26, 1945, it was somehow perceived that she was in fact the
Caroline Angutigalu who was born in 1922 and who had died May 25, 1945.
Namesakes are a common occurrence in Inuit culture as elsewhere, and there is
also a more intimate relationship, called "saunak" in which at least part of
the soul is transferred from one person to another. The first person need not
be deceased, and the second not necessarily newborn; they need not even be the
same sex. (For example Ali Tulugak, the excellent carver, translator and
entrepreneur, is the saunak of Joe Talirunili, Arctic Quebec's famous carver,
who died in 1976.) Reincarnation within one family and one generation raises
interesting kinship designations.
During her printmaking career, 1962-1973, Annie authored fifty-nine
catalogued prints, another seven issued in 1965 apparently sold after the
catalogue was published. Only Juanisialuk, with a total of 79 prints,
surpassed her output during the same period.
Echalook, Annie's son, produced some drawings in 1987-88 in response to a
competition and has had other drawings translated into prints, but so far no
other family member has followed her graphic career.
Mary Craig 1991
[Further research by Sandra Barz indicates that several of Annie
Mikpiga's children tried their hands at graphic art. Echalook Nutaraluk,
Alasi Audla Tullaugak, and Tamusi Alasua Nutaraalu are artists, Lydia Quarak
is a printer.]
EXHIBITIONS:
1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, Povungnituk Print Collection
1970, 1972, 1973 (annual collection)
(illustrated catalogue)
1973 Batik - Povungnituk
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal, Quebec
Jan 1977 - Jun 1982 The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit
Department of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development and the
National Museum of Man
Ottawa, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
March - April 1979 Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative
exhibition from the collection of Professor
and Mrs. Philip Gray
Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State
University
Bozeman, Montana, U.S.A.
(catalogue)
Sept 1980 - Feb 1981 Things Made by Inuit
La Federation des Cooperatives du
Nouveau-Quebec
Montreal, Quebec
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
February - August 1982 Les Inuit du Nouveau-Quebec
Musee du Quebec
Quebec, Quebec
(illustrated brochure)
November 1986 Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare
Prints from the Arctic
Arctic Artistry
Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A.
1987 The Bond Between Mother and Child
The Arctic Circle
Los Angeles, California
March - July 1987 Winnipeg Collects: Inuit Art from
Private Collections
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
May - June 1987 Inuit Graphics from the Past
Arctic Artistry
Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A.
November 1987 Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987
Arctic Artistry
Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A.
March - April 1988 Works on Paper from the Permanent
Collection of Inuit Art
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal, Quebec
1990 Inuit Art From the Glenbow Collection
Glenbow Museum
Calgary, Alberta
June - Sept 1990 Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990
Arctic Artistry
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A.
February 1992 Prints from Povungnituk 1962-1988
Albers Gallery of Inuit Art
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Nov - Dec 1993 Women Who Draw: 30 Years of Graphic
Art from the Canadian Arctic
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
March - August 1994 Kunst aus der Arktis
Volkerkundmuseum der Universitat Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland
(illustrated catalogue)
July 1994 Arctic Spirit
35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art
Frye Art Museum
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
March - April 1996 Works on Paper from the Permanent
Collection of Inuit Art
Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec
Montreal, Quebec
COLLECTIONS:
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Avataq Cultural Institute, Montreal, Quebec
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Musee de la civilisation, Quebec City, Quebec
Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Alberta
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS:
1978 The artist contributed a print to be used in the 1978 Puvirnituq calendar.
1979 A print by the artist was contributed to the 1979 Puvirnituq calendar.
SELECTED REFERENCES:
ARTS OF THE ESKIMO: PRINTS: /Ed. by Ernst Roch. Texts by
Patrick Furneaux and Leo Rosshandler. Montreal: Signum Press in
association with Oxford University Press, Toronto, 1974.
Barz, Sandra B., ed.
CANADIAN INUIT PRINT ARTIST/PRINTER BIOGRAPHIES. New York :
Arts & Culture of the North, 1990.
Blakeman, Evelyn
IN MEMORIAM: ANNIE MIGPIKA. Edmonton, Alta. : Inuit Art
Enthusiasts Newsletter(25)1, January, 1985.
Canada. Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Dev.
INUNNIT: The Art of the Canadian Eskimo = L'art des Eskimaux du
Canada. / by W. T. Larmour. French translation by Jacques
Brunet. Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development, 1967.
Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec
THINGS MADE BY INUIT. Montreal: La Federation des Cooperatives
du Nouveau-Quebec. Compiled and edited by M. Myers, 1980.
Hassler, Gitta
KUNST AUS DER ARKTIS: GRAPHIKEN DER INUIT IN KANADA. Zurich:
Volkerkundmuseum der Universitat Zurich, 1994.
Hessel, Ingo
ANNIE MIKPIGA (NUVALINGA) (1900-1984). In North American Women
Artists of the Twentieth Century: A biographical Dictionary/
Garland, 1995.
National Museum of Man
THE INUIT PRINT = L'ESTAMPE INUIT: A Travelling Exhibition... =
Une exposition itinerante... Ottawa: National Museum of Man,
National Museums of Canada, 1977.
Saucier, Celine
IMAGE INUIT DU NOUVEAU-QUEBEC: By Celine Saucier and Eugene
Kedl. Quebec: Musee de la Civilisation, 1988.
Simard, Cyril
ARTISANAT QUEBECOIS: 3: INDIENS ET ESQUIMAUX. Montreal: Les
Editions de l'Homme, 1977.
Van Raalte, Sharon
INUIT WOMEN AND THEIR ART. Communique, May 1975. p.21-23.
(c) Inuit Art Section, INAC 1995
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