“She is Transforming:” Inuit Artworks Reflect a Cultural Response to Arctic Sea Ice and Climate Change

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Author: Rathwell, Kaitlyn J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 2020
• Subjects: bridging knowledge systems; Indigenous knowledge; Inuit art; climate change; Arctic sea ice; resilience; adaptation; values; rapprochement des systèmes de connaissances; connaissances autochtones; art inuit; changement climatique; glace de mer de l’Arctique; résilience; valeurs; Arctic; Nunavut; Pangnirtung; Cape Dorset; Climate change; inuit; inuits; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/69945

Seven Inuit artists reflect their lived experience of disappearing sea ice and climate change in their artworks.Living in Pangnirtung and Cape Dorset, Nunavut, for five months in 2013 and one month in 2015 enabled me to build relationships with artists and to initiate collaborations for this project. I examine how the artworks and artists use symbolism, metaphor, and other aesthetic devices to convey messages about their lived experience of sea ice and climate change. Stories told by artists about their artworks emphasize the importance of adaptation and interconnectedness and embrace themes about transformation and renewal. The insights provided by the artists participating in this research are crucial in the context of bridging knowledge systems to enhance our understanding of and potential responses to environmental change. Connecting with the intangible aspects of knowledge systems, such as emotional response, values, and identity, is an ongoing challenge; yet, accounting for these aspects of knowledge is a critical component of salient and legitimate environmental governance. Artists and their artworks can illuminate the less tangible aspects of knowledge about change and hence have an important roleto play at the interface of diverse knowledge systems. Sept artistes inuits illustrent, par le biais de leurs œuvres, leur expérience vécue en ce qui a trait à la glace de meren train de disparaître et au changement climatique. Parce que j’ai vécu à Pangnirtung et à Cape Dorset, au Nunavut, pendant cinq mois en 2013 et pendant un mois en 2015, j’ai réussi à nouer des liens avec des artistes et à entreprendre des collaborations en vue de ce projet. J’examine comment les œuvres et les artistes recourent au symbolisme, à la métaphore et à d’autres moyens esthétiques pour transmettre des messages sur leur expérience vécue en ce qui a trait à la glace de mer et au changement climatique. Les histoires que racontent les artistes au sujet de leurs œuvres font ressortir l’importance de l’adaptation et de ...