Kenojuak The Life Story of an Inuit Artist

Kenojuak
The Life Story of an Inuit Artist

Ansgar Walk

7 X 9 inches, 248 pages
64 colour photographs of the artist and her work

KENOJUAK IS REGARDED AS ONE of the most notable pioneers of modern Inuit art. Born in an igloo in 1927, she was one of the first Inuit women in Cape Dorset to begin drawing about forty years ago. She has since created thousands of drawings and many carvings from soapstone, etchings, stone-cuts, and prints—all much sought after by museums and collectors.

In this biography of her life as both an artist and a person, Ansgar Walk records the story of a woman who lost her father by dramatic events in early youth and who, not yet 25 years old, had to be treated for several years for tuberculosis in a hospital far away from home. Many of her children and grandchildren succumbed to disease or accident, as did her husband of 45 years. Nevertheless she has retained her courage, her sense of humour, and her trust in God. Kenojuak tells how from the beginning of this century people on the coast of southwest Baffin Island have tried to solve the problems of daily life. Sixty four photos of the artist, her environment, and her latest work accompany the biography by Ansgar Walk.

Ansgar Walk

Author, Photographer

Ansgar Walk (b.1929) has studied natural science, philosophy, and literature. His interests include scientific topics related to the Arctic as well as issues of social development and the fine arts of the Inuit. With his wife, he has travelled many times to northeast Canada, and repeated journeys to Cape Dorset have brought him in contact with Kenojuak and other local artists. In addition to Kenojuak, Ansgar Walk has written In the Land of the Inuit: Arctic Diary, and The Polar Bear Came Late at Night: Sketches of Wager Bay, both published in German by Pendragon Bielefeld. Kenojuak is a translation of the Pendragon edition, which was published in 1998.

Ansgar Walk and his books with Pendragon (Deutsch/English)