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Lukta Qiatsuk
Canadian, 1928 - 2004
Lukta Qiatsuk was a masterful printmaker from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Qiatsuk was the eldest son born in 1928 to Kiakshuk, an artist and one of the last practicing shamans in the community. The family lived a traditional Inuit life in seasonal camps before settling in the community of Kinngait. Kiakshuk was willing to teach his son the magical songs, healing techniques and powers he had carried with him, however, Qiatsuk declined his father’s offer, telling him that he did not need to be a shaman to succeed in life. By the late 1950s, both father and son were working with James Houston at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative (later known as Kinngait Studios). Qiatsuk became one of the founding printmakers at the co-operative, chosen by Houston to help due to his keen sense of style and his skilful hands.
Working alongside Kananginak Pootoogook, Iyola Kingwatsiak and Eegyvudluk Pootoogook on experimental prints, Qiatsuk worked with almost every medium: stonecut, stencil, sealskin stencil, linoleum, stone rubbing and engraving, and stone block cutting. Qiatsuk printed many works for the Kinngait print collections between 1959 and 1980, and by the end of his career in the mid-1980s, Qiatsuk had cut and printed over 200 prints, including fifteen based on his father’s drawings. He retired from printmaking but continued to make traditional tools, drawings and sculpture for the next twenty years.
In 2003, Qiatsuk received a grant through the Canada Council for the Arts to travel to Basel, Switzerland, to attend the opening of his family’s exhibition held at the Canadian Arctic Gallery. Qiatsuk noted how he wished that this exposure to the European audience would help to open up a new market for his sons, including Padlaya Qiatsuk and Pootgoogook Qiatsuk, both innovative carvers themselves, in the future. His works have been exhibited internationally and have been featured most recently at the ULAG with one of his sculptures being show in the 2008 sculpture installation in the LINC building at the University of Lethbridge.
Working alongside Kananginak Pootoogook, Iyola Kingwatsiak and Eegyvudluk Pootoogook on experimental prints, Qiatsuk worked with almost every medium: stonecut, stencil, sealskin stencil, linoleum, stone rubbing and engraving, and stone block cutting. Qiatsuk printed many works for the Kinngait print collections between 1959 and 1980, and by the end of his career in the mid-1980s, Qiatsuk had cut and printed over 200 prints, including fifteen based on his father’s drawings. He retired from printmaking but continued to make traditional tools, drawings and sculpture for the next twenty years.
In 2003, Qiatsuk received a grant through the Canada Council for the Arts to travel to Basel, Switzerland, to attend the opening of his family’s exhibition held at the Canadian Arctic Gallery. Qiatsuk noted how he wished that this exposure to the European audience would help to open up a new market for his sons, including Padlaya Qiatsuk and Pootgoogook Qiatsuk, both innovative carvers themselves, in the future. His works have been exhibited internationally and have been featured most recently at the ULAG with one of his sculptures being show in the 2008 sculpture installation in the LINC building at the University of Lethbridge.