Making Sealskin Kamiks

Kananginak Pootoogook was one of the first printmakers in Cape Dorset, and remained very active with the studio from its inception in 1959 until his death. This work is dedicated to the documentation of customary craft, to the making of kamiks, sealskin boots essential to survival in the Arctic environment. It is almost diagrammatic, imaging their components, the techniques and tools involved, and the boot at various stages of its manufacture. The work is at once a simple and eloquent expression of a form vital to traditional lifeways. This acquisition was presented by the Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.