Arts & Craftsavut
The arts & crafts sector is a key contributor to our economy in Nunavut. Annual sales are estimated to be in excess of $30 million, and this will grow – to $50 million by the year 2013.
The 2004-05 Nunavut Household Survey reports that 30 per cent of respondents were involved in the production of arts and crafts in 2003.
What began just fifty years ago as an experiment in the introduction of the cash economy to people living on the remote coast of Hudson Bay, today supports a multi-million dollar cultural industry, with production studios in Taloyoak, Baker Lake, Arviat, Iqaluit, Cape Dorset, and Pangnirtung, an export network spanning the globe, and an international reputation for excellence and innovation in production that is the foundation for Nunavut’s economic progress.
Sanaugait: A Strategy for Growth in Nunavut’s Arts & Crafts Sector
Nunavut’s mixed economy is characterized by its unique and highly valued arts sector.
Artists of Nunavut create a wide variety of hand-made items, which include carvings (stone, ivory, bone, and antler), printmaking, paintings, drawing, weaving, wall hangings, basketry, contemporary fashions, traditional clothing, ceramics, jewelry and metal art.
To foster an economic environment that supports growth and diversification of the arts economy in Nunavut, Sanaugait: A Strategy for Growth in Nunavut’s Arts & Crafts Sector has been developed by the Government of Nunavut, in cooperation with a consortium of stakeholders including artists, arts associations, government departments, Inuit organizations, co-operatives and other private sector interests.
Sanaugait: A Strategy for Growth in Nunavut's Arts & Crafts Sector
Ukkusiksaqtarvik: The Place Where We Find Stone
Maintaining a reliable supply of carving stone for artists in Nunavut is a major challenge. This action plan proposes some practical responses.
Ukkusiksaqtarvik: The Place Where We Find Stone shares the same and mission and guiding principles of the arts and crafts strategy, and the same commitment to strategic partnerships as its principal method of implementation.
This action plan has been prepared with the assistance of a Carving Stone Working Group. Members of this working group include the regional arts advisors, senior arts advisor, business development advisor, and manager of minerals for the Department of Economic Development & Transportation; the manager of mineral resources, and district geologist, for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in Iqaluit; the business services manager for Kakivak Association; and, the executive director for the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association.
The working group agreed that their work should have the following general purpose, or mission:
To improve the availability of quality carving stone to artists in all communities in Nunavut by strengthening traditional quarrying methods and facilitating inter-community distribution.