« Carvings are not only carvings » : reception of Contemporary Inuit Art in France from 1950’s to present

• Main Author: Duchemin-Pelletier, Florence
• Other Authors: Paris 10, Dufrêne, Thierry
• Format: Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Inuit; France; Canada; Sculpture; Privitisme; Collections; Primitivism; art; anthro-se; North Pole; inuit
• Online Access: http://www.theses.fr/2014PA100075

From the middle of the 1950s, traveling exhibitions of Contemporary Inuit Art have been staged across several continents. These exhibitions had been enthusiastically received, thanks in large part to the particular positioning put forth by James A. Houston, which established Contemporary Inuit Art within the artistic constructs of primitivism and modernism. This warm welcome was in marked contrast to France's own reception of Inuit art. Even though its collective imaginary has been largely shaped by figures from the North Pole, a view that can be traced back to the first apostolic and exploratory missions of the continent, France remained the only country that showed a certain distrust towards this artistic expression. This thesis will examine the conditions by which Contemporary Inuit Art has been re-interpreted within a series of evolving historical contexts, beginning with the domination of the primitivist paradigm until the 1970s, and moving towards the multiplication of individual and collective projects from the early 1980s, a context which prevails to this day. Throughout this examination, the question of Contemporary Inuit Art's ability to be seen as a symbol of artistic and cultural authenticity will be addressed. The final chapter will deal with the notion of aboriginal discourse and the 'double address' mode of communication that Inuit artists tend to employ. Dans le milieu des années 1950, des expositions itinérantes d’art inuit contemporain sont envoyées sur plusieurs continents. Elles y connaissent une réception enthousiaste en raison du positionnement particulier que leur confère James A. Houston, à cheval sur les sphères conceptuelles du moderne et du supposé primitif. Seule la France, dont l’imaginaire collectif s’est pourtant largement enrichi de figures polaires depuis les missions d’apostolat et d’exploration, affiche alors une certaine défiance à l’endroit de cette nouvelle forme artistique. Cette thèse propose d’examiner les conditions de réceptions de l’art inuit contemporain dans un ...