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| LEAH QUMALUK (KUMALIK; QUMALU; KUMALUK; LIAH; NUVALINGA SALA; NOVALINGA) Born: April 17, 1934 Female E9-1721 Resides: Puvirnituq Sculpture, Prints, Printmaking, Crafts Leah's parents were Raina Nuluki from the Belcher Islands and Samisa Sala from Kuujjaraapik. Leah and her husband Jusi, who died in 1984, had six children, one of whom died within a month of his birth. One daughter is adopted. All are now grown, and Leah, as do all grandmothers in the north, babysits a lot. While she was still active in the print shop, after-school visits by small and medium-sized grandchildren were a common occurrence. Two children, Lucassie and Louisa, have been involved in printmaking at one time or another. Leah was there in 1961 when the first tentative attempts at printmaking in Puvirnituq began. Along with everyone else in the old stone building, perfunctorily converted to a print shop, she suffered the drafts, poor lighting, and the all-around discomfort, hoping to make a dream come true. At least twenty-one prints were completed that year and subsequently sold. The prints were numbered from 1 to 92 on a typed price list, suggesting that another 71 were either sold prior to the issuance of the list or were not realized. During her professional career, Leah authored, and in most case printed, at least ninety-five prints, the overwhelming majority of these stonecuts. She has "pulled" literally hundreds more for other artists. These impressive numbers do not include complete editions of prints which were withheld at the suggestion of the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council. This prodigious output was accomplished by designing and cutting blocks at home and then putting in a nine-to-five job in the print shop. In the latter work place she kept quietly to herself, ignoring the banter going on about her, accelerated in the later years by the influx of younger and younger employees. Finally in 1985, tired and widowed, Leah had had enough and she left. The last image that she translated herself was "Campers working on a Polar Bear Skin", completed in 1985. One more print followed, "Go the Other Way" printed by Maggie Ittallak. Three prints by Leah, reproduced by the Canadian Surety Company in the early seventies, still occasionally surface. They were reproduced photographically to size on Japanese paper; the size of the edition is unknown. The prints are: 1966 #283, "Fish Tastes Good", 14/30 (or 4/30 Inuit Artists Print Work Book); 1969 #435, "The Woman and the Bird", 3/30; and 1969 #438, "Legend of the Bird Eating Man", 7/30. The captions on the orginal prints are handwritten with pencil; their photographic clones are not. The prudent use of an eraser is recommended to determine authenticity. Mary Craig EXHIBITIONS: 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, Povungnituk Print Collection 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, (annual collection) 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, (illustrated catalogue) 1984, 1985, 1986 1964, 1966, 1973, 1975, 1976, Povungnituk Print Collection (printmaker) 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, (annual collection) 1986 (illustrated catalogue) 1972, 1974 Arctic Quebec Print Collection (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue) January - March 1972 Eskimo Fantastic Art Gallery 111, School of Art, University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba (tour) (illustrated catalogue) 1973 Batik - Povungnituk Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec Montreal, Quebec 1974 Crafts from Arctic Canada/Artisanat de l'arctique canadien Canadian Eskimo Arts Council Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) 1974 Arctic Quebec Print Collection II (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue) December 1977 - February 1978 Povungnituk Winnipeg Art Gallery Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue) July 1979 - May 1980 Inuit Art in the 1970s Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre Kingston, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) January - February 1980 Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia September - October 1980 La deesse inuite de la mer/The Inuit Sea Goddess Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal Montreal, Quebec (tour) (illustrated catalogue) September 1980 - February 1981 Things Made by Inuit La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec Montreal, Quebec (tour) (illustrated catalogue) October - November 1981 The Inuit Sea Goddess Surrey Art Gallery, (organized to complement the Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal exhibit of the same name) Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue) February - August 1982 Les Inuit du Nouveau-Quebec Musee du Quebec Quebec, Quebec (illustrated brochure) September 1983 The Way We Were - Traditional Eskimo Life Snow Goose Associates Seattle, Washington, USA November 1983 - January 1984 Inuit Art at Rideau Hall Presented by Indian Affairs and Northern Development Ottawa, Ontario November 1983 - March 1985 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, presented at the General Assembly Building, United Nations New York, New York, U.S.A. (tour) (illustrated brochure) December 1984 Takamit - Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) June 1985 - September 1987 Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) October - November 1986 The Art of the Eskimo Newman Galleries Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. November 1987 Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987 Arctic Artistry Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A. February - March 1989 [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at St. Marcellin France March - April 1989 [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe, le Touquet France August 1989 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon France October 1989 Art Inuit, Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie La Poutre, Marseille France December 1989 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Les Chiroux, Centre Culturel de la Wallonie, Liege Belgium June - September 1990 Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990 Arctic Artistry Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A. November - December 1990 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1990 Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Centre Culturel Canadien Paris, France March - April 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Theatre La Ciotat, France April - June 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux L'Isle sur la Sorgue, France June - July 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Ombre et Lumiere Ensisheim, France August - September 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Akenaton Troyes, France February 1992 Prints from Povungnituk 1962-1988 Albers Gallery of Inuit Art San Francisco, California, U.S.A. November - December 1993 Women Who Draw: 30 Years of Graphic Art from the Canadian Arctic Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario September - October 1994 Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans Edegem, Belgium (illustrated brochure) March - July 1995 Immaginario Inuit Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Verona, Italy (illustrated catalogue) COLLECTIONS: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia Avataq Cultural Institute, Montreal, Quebec Bata Shoe Museum Foundation, Don Mills, Ontario Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Confederation des caisses populaires et d'economie Desjardins, Levis, Quebec Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, Michigan, U.S.A. McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario Musee d'Art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Musee de la civilisation, Quebec City, Quebec Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec Musee du Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS: 1978 The artist contributed a print which was 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. Canada. Dept. of Indian Affairs CONTEMPORARY INDIAN AND INUIT ART OF CANADA/L'ART CONTEMPORAIN DES INDIENS ET DES INUIT DU CANADA. Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1983. 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. Routledge, Marie INUIT ART IN THE 1970s/L'ART INUIT ACTUEL: 1970-79. Kingston, Ont. : The Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1979. 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. Swinton, George SCULPTURE OF THE ESKIMO. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972. Swinton, Nelda LA DEESSE INUITE DE LA MER. = THE INUIT SEA GODDESS. Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1980. Van Raalte, Sharon INUIT WOMEN AND THEIR ART. Communique, May 1975. p.21-23. Verona. Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea IMMAGINARIO INUIT: ARTE E CULTURA DEGLI ESQUIMESICANADESI. Commune di Verona: Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Palazzo Forti, 1995. Winnipeg Art Gallery POVUNGNITUK. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1977. (c) Inuit Art Section, INAC 1995 |
