Antler, wood and sinew

LUKE ANOWTALIK (1932-2006)

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ARVIAT, Acrobats, ca. mid-late 1980s

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Antler, wood and sinew

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11.75 x 23.5 x 17 in, 29.8 x 59.7 x 43.2 cm

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This work brings Anowtalik's delightful "swinging men" to a whole new level. It would look and feel right at home in Alexander Calder's magical "Circus." Anowtalik's antler art is perhaps the epitome of the Arviat tradition of playful folk art. Swinton reminds us: "One of the Inuktitut words used in earlier times for carvings was pinguaq, meaning toy (or 'playful imitation'), as opposed to sananguaqwhich has now acquired the meaning of 'carving' and of 'art' in general. The ethic of making a carving a pinguaq is still pretty strong in Eskimo Point." (In "Memories of Eskimo Point 1967-1979" in Bernadette Driscoll, Eskimo Point/Arviat, WAG, 1982, p. 14)