Ashevak, Kenojuak

Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, ONu, RCA was born in the outpost camp of Ikirasaq, on the southern coast of Baffin Island, to Silaqqi and Ushuakjuk, the latter a hunter, fur trader and respected shaman. Ashevak first learned traditional skills from her grandmother Koweesa and began carving and drawing in her twenties, alongside her husband Johnniebo Ashevak, with whom she shared her love of art. Upon settling in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, with her husband and family, she met James Houston, OC, FRSA (1921–2005) and Alma Houston, who were establishing an arts program and encouraged her to pursue graphic arts through the Co-op. In the late 1960s Ashevak quickly gained recognition for her prints and has since become arguably the most renowned Inuit artist in the world. Ashevak participated in exhibitions across Canada, Europe and Asia, and her work is held in collections internationally. Her achievements are numerous and include the 1963 National Film Board production Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak, the Order of Canada in 1967, a Companion to the Order of Canada in 1982 and the Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts in 2008. Further, she has been included in almost every Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection since 1960. In 2016 Ashevak was the subject of a Canadian Heritage Minute, which paid tribute to the huge impact she continues to have on both Inuit artists and the Canadian art world writ large.