Karoo Ashevak’s success and influence in Taloyoak (Spence Bay), and his equally influential uncle Judas Ullulaq, helped to spawn a new Kitikmeot regional style. Luke Nuliayok, already a talented carver in Gjoa Haven since the mid-1960s, began to adapt certain stylistic aspects, such as grimacing facial features, to his own work. Nuliayok was also known as a skilled carver of traditional tools and implements. Moreover, he knew how to fashion Inuit skin and wood drums and was himself an accomplished drum dancer.

NFB and Geronimo Inutiq, Riders

In 2006, a major collection of 246 sculptures was donated to the Gallery by Vancouver collector Dr. Harry Winrob. Originally from Winnipeg, Winrob had made occasional purchases of Inuit carvings beginning in 1968. He became interested in seriously collecting Inuit sculpture in 1971, and soon focused on acquiring works made of organic materials from game animals (whalebone, walrus ivory, and caribou antler). Fifty-four sculptures in Winrob’s collection are created from organic materials, and thirty-six of these are of whale bone. Winrob once gave his background as a physician as the reason for his interest in these materials. However, much of his interest was also aesthetic. He was particularly interested in the flamboyant sculpture by Nattilingmiut (Netsilik) artists from Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven, and Kugaaruk. Sculpture with shamanic content fascinated him, particularly animal/human transformations. He explained that it was not the “classic” but the atypical, even the bizarre that held a strong attraction for him. In March 2008, Harry Winrob’s collection was the subject of a major WAG exhibition and catalogue.