Inuk Ink / ᐃᓄᒃ ᐸᐅ / Inuk Pau
Inuk Ink is a two-part online panel series, organized by SAW’s Nordic Lab in partnership with Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership, where invited panelists will discuss different aspects of traditional Inuit tattooing. Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Iqaluit) and Katia d’Argencourt (Ottawa) will speak about the reclamation of Inuit tattoos, and Arsaniq Deer (Montréal) and Zorga Qaunaq (Ottawa) will reflect on the impact that traditional tattoos have on individuals and their communities. Both panels will be moderated by artist and Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuk Aedan Corey (Ottawa). Each panel will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.
The presentations will be in English.
The Reclamation of Kakiniit
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Katia d'Argencourt
Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at 7PM (EST)
Through their separate experiences with researching, practicing and receiving traditional Inuit tattoos, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Katia d’Argencourt will discuss the process of reclaiming tunniit and kakiniit, facial and body tattoos, in all of its complexities.
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is an Inuk filmmaker from the Canadian Arctic, where she has been producing and directing through her company Unikkat since 2005. In 2016, she joined forces with fellow Inuk filmmaker Stacey Aglok MacDonald to launch their current company, Red Marrow Media. Arnaquq-Baril directed and produced the award-winning APTN mid-length documentary TUNNIIT: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos (ImagineNATIVE, 2011) about the history and importance of traditional Inuit tattoos. She also previously directed and produced the critically acclaimed film ANGRY INUK, a feature documentary about Inuit coming up with new and provocative ways to deal with international seal hunting controversies. Most recently, Arnaquq-Baril was a producer on the award-winning feature film THE GRIZZLIES (TIFF, 2018). Arnaquq-Baril has an extensive history of advocacy, policy development and community representation through two decades of volunteering on the boards of various arts and education organizations.
www.instagram.com/alethea_aggiuq
Katia Nipisa Rebecca d’Argencourt was born and raised in Niaqunngut (Apex), Iqaluit, Nunavut. Many of her childhood memories lie on the island. At the age of 13, d’Argencourt moved to the Yukon and later to the Northwest Territories, where she graduated from high school in Yellowknife. This is where she met her mentor, Hovak Johnston, who introduced her to traditional Inuit tattooing in 2017. D’Argencourt’s drive to help Inuit reclaim their heritage and culture was strengthened when she witnessed the positive and powerful impact of tuuniit reclamation through multiple tattooing projects in northern communities. Today, she continues her journey as a traditional tattoo artist and young Inuk living between two worlds, with the hopes to pass on her knowledge to those who wish to learn and understand the historical act of cultural reclamation.
The Impact of Reclamation
Arsaniq Deer and Zorga Qaunaq
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 7PM (EST)
Inuit tattooists Arsaniq Deer and Zorga Qaunaq will address the impact that the reclamation of Inuit tattoos has had on not only the individuals receiving their markings but also on their communities.
Arsaniq Deer is a 22-year-old traditional tattoo artist, beader, seamstress and painter from a small village of around 500 people, Quaqtaq, Nunavik. She was first introduced to traditional Inuit tattooing during her studies at Nunavik Sivunitsavut and quickly became interested in the practice. Her first experience with tattooing came when she was invited by Hovak Johnston to help tattoo her mother, Beatrice Deer. This event led to Deer’s apprenticeship as a tattoo artist and was the beginning of her tattoo practice, which she continues today. Deer currently lives in Montréal.
Zorga Qaunaq is an Inuk originally from Igloolik, Nunavut. She has since lived in Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, and Iqaluit, Nunavut. After attending the Indigenous Studies program at the University of Ottawa, Qaunaq is now based in Ottawa. She works full-time at the college Nunavut Sivuniksavut, where she is a facilitator and teaches Inuktitut. In her free time, Qaunaq works to revitalize traditional Inuit tattooing practices. She also creates sealskin jewelry as a co-owner of Chinu Designs. Qaunaq hopes to open up a dialogue about Inuit culture and identity with tattoos and to help strengthen the relationship between Inuit and their history.