Joe Talirunili
Encyclopedia
Joe Talirunili was an Inuit
printmaker and sculptor, who would sometimes draw. There are two different places listed of where the artist was born, Qugaaluk River camp, Quebec
, or 50 kilometers north of Puvirnituq
in Nunavik
Province, Quebec
, at Neahungnik camp Another mystery is when the artist was born and when he died. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in Ottawa says he was born in 1893, but the artist claims that 1906 is the correct year, but there is no indication of when the month and day was. The dates of his death are September 13, 1976 or September 11, 1976.
and Richmond Gulf region. The Inuit move camp and follow the caribou as a part of their hunting lifestyle. When Talirunili was younger, he was in a migration. This migration was a traumatic incident that happened in Joe’s life.
A group of about forty people were traveling to new hunting grounds on an island in Hudson Bay. The crew got into a shipwreck and the ice floe that they were on had broken off the edge of the sea ice. The people had to use the sealskins, rope and wood from their sleds to make an umiak (a skin boat). They worked against nature’s time of the ice melting; some people did not survive. The boat full of people floated for days before they reached land. This experience influenced and inspired the artist to create sculptures of “The Migration,' which are also called, "Joe Boats."
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
printmaker and sculptor, who would sometimes draw. There are two different places listed of where the artist was born, Qugaaluk River camp, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, or 50 kilometers north of Puvirnituq
Puvirnituq, Quebec
Puvirnituq is an Inuit settlement in Nunavik on the Povungnituk River near its mouth on the Hudson Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Its population is 1457 .The name means "Place where there is a smell of rotten meat"...
in Nunavik
Nunavik
Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...
Province, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, at Neahungnik camp Another mystery is when the artist was born and when he died. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in Ottawa says he was born in 1893, but the artist claims that 1906 is the correct year, but there is no indication of when the month and day was. The dates of his death are September 13, 1976 or September 11, 1976.
The migration
Joe was brought up with the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit. When he was younger, he spent most of his time with his father hunting in the KuujjuarapikKuujjuarapik, Quebec
Kuujjuarapik is the southernmost Inuit village at the mouth of the Great Whale River on the coast of Hudson Bay in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. About 800 people, mostly Cree, live in the adjacent village of Whapmagoostui. The community is only accessible by air and, in late summer, by boat...
and Richmond Gulf region. The Inuit move camp and follow the caribou as a part of their hunting lifestyle. When Talirunili was younger, he was in a migration. This migration was a traumatic incident that happened in Joe’s life.
A group of about forty people were traveling to new hunting grounds on an island in Hudson Bay. The crew got into a shipwreck and the ice floe that they were on had broken off the edge of the sea ice. The people had to use the sealskins, rope and wood from their sleds to make an umiak (a skin boat). They worked against nature’s time of the ice melting; some people did not survive. The boat full of people floated for days before they reached land. This experience influenced and inspired the artist to create sculptures of “The Migration,' which are also called, "Joe Boats."
Exposure to art
Joe was exposed to the non-Inuit lifestyle at an early age because his father worked with the mining prospectors. In the 1950s, the non-Inuit started to settle in Puvirnituq, this gave Talirunili the opportunity to work with them in order to support his family by not only hunting. This also gave him the opportunity to learn about creating art in printmaking, sculpting and drawing.Talirunili's art timeline
In the 1950s, Talirunili focused more on sculptures. He carved migration scenes of umiaks, Inuit men and women, hunting scenes and caribou. After a decade of sculpting, he got into printmaking graphics in the 1960s. In all of Joe’s work, sculptures, prints and drawings, he tells stories from his traditions, childhood and people’s lives, camp life, hunting scenes, owls, other animals and his famous “migration” works.Purivnituq Print Shop
Joe Talirunili and his cousin, David Ialuk were one of the founding members of the Purivnituq print shop. In Joe’s lifetime, he made about over seventy prints. His graphics were put into the Puvirnituq annual print collections in the 1960s. In 1978, one of Joe’s sculptures was reproduced on a 1978 Canadian postage stamp.External links
- Joe Talirunili, image gallery from the Center for Contemporary Canadian Art
- Joe Talirunili (1893- 1976), Invaluable.
- Stones, Bones & Stitches: Storytelling Through Inuit Art. Pacific Rim Voices.
- Talirunili, Joe. Historical Foundation of Canada.