Out and About with Andrew Qappik

Andrew Qappik

I've been helping Andrew Qappik, a printmaker from Nunavut, travel and locate supplies around Newfoundland this week.  He's in the Province working on a painting that was specially commissioned by the Nunavut Government.  I'm sure that there will be an announcement when the whole project is completed, so I'll hold off on posting too many spoiler photos or info until then, but here's a hint; that will be after the sea trials.

One of Andrew's designs

If you live in Canada or have travelled in Nunavut, you've certainly seen Andrew's work - he designed the Nunavut Flag, the Territorial Coat of Arms, and the Government logo (left).  He lives in Pangnirtung, on Baffin Island and you can see some of his prints online through the Pangnirtung print shop, Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts.  Andrew started printmaking when he was just 14, and this past spring he was the subject of a 30 year retrospective show at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, who received a massive donation of 140 of his prints from a private collector.
 

Glovertown in the morning

Its been a lot of fun hanging out with Andrew as he started his work.  On Monday, we had a rainy, foggy drive from St. John's to Glovertown.  We listened to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack the whole trip out.  Andrew kept cracking up over one of the songs which was sung in Hindi - apparently a lot of the words sounded like Inuktitut, and the chorus went something like, "no, no, no", "Look there's a hole!", "someones going to be breastfed."

Photo Credits:
1, 3: Tim Rast
2: Nunavut Government Logo, by Andrew Qappik