Art lovers, you may want to make time to visit the Japanese Canadian National Museum.
It's hosting the exhibit Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration, until Dec. 3
The exhibition is organized by the Canadian Museum of Civilization, with the assistance of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in Cape Dorset.
In the late 1950s, the small Arctic community of Cape Dorset was introduced to the ancient traditions of Japanese printmaking through the efforts of government employee James Houston, who travelled to Japan and studied for three months with one of the world's leading masters of the art, Un'ichi Hiratsuka.
He introduced the art as a potential source of income for the Inuit.
"The exposure to Japanese printmaking gave the Inuit a new form of cultural expression, and they soon gave the world an original, distinctive and exciting genre of graphic arts," said Victor Rabinovitch, president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, in a press release. "This is a wonderful example of the outstanding benefits of cultural interaction and adaptation."
The exhibition includes some of the rarest and earliest Cape Dorset prints, as well as the actual Japanese prints that were brought into Cape Dorset, inspiring the Inuit artists.
A few special events are planned in connection with the exhibition - next up is a talk by co-curator Asato Ikeda on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. Admission is by donation.
On Nov. 9, scholar Maiko Behr will look at the history of woodblock printing in Japan, in a talk starting at 7 p.m.
The museum is at Nikkei Place, 6688 Southoaks Cres. in Burnaby. Call 604-777-7000 or see www.jcnm.ca for more details.
