Kakulu Saggiatok

Kakulu Saggiatok

Kakulu Saggiatok (1940-2020) - Artist Biography

Kakulu was born in 1940 on the Hudson’s Bay Company’s supply ship, “Nascopie” en route from Clyde River to Pangnirtung. At that time, her parents and older brother were members of a small group of Inuit who travelled from south Baffin Island to trap and hunt furs in the northern regions of the Island.
Kakulu began to draw in the early 1960’s when the newly established co-operative introduced its graphic arts project. Her style has evolved considerably over the years. She is represented in this year’s (2000), collection with two prints – “Vision Quest” (2000-2) and “Myth of Creation” (2000-3). Both of these illustrating her playful and yet sophisticated sense of imagery.
Kakulu’s mother was Ikayukta, a well-known graphic artist (now deceased). Her older brother was Qavaroak Tunnillie, a well-known and prolific sculptor (now deceased). She is married to Saggiaktok, who for many years was a printmaker in the stonecut studio. He would frequently proof and edit those images by Kakulu which had been chosen for stonecut prints. They live in Cape Dorset with their four children. She continues to develop her own unique style of expression, and participates in workshops offered by the Kinngait Studios. She is represented in 2001 print collection by an etching and aquatint entitled, “Hot Pot” (2001-2002), which she conceived direly onto the etching plate during one of the Co- operative’s continuing series of workshops in association with Studio PM of Montreal.*
*West Baffin Eskimo Co-op, 2000-2001.

EXHIBITIONS:
1966, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, Cape Dorset Graphics
1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, (annual collection)
1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, (illustrated catalogue)
1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2011, 2014
June – July 1967 4th National Burnaby Print Show Burnaby Art Society
Burnaby, British Columbia
1970 Graphic Art by Eskimos of Canada: First Collection Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Canada
Ottawa,Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
October – November 1973 Sculpture Inuit: 25 Years After Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec Montreal, Quebec
1975 – 1979 We Lived by Animals, Nous Vivions des Animaux Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in cooperation with the Department of External Affairs Ottawa, Ontario (illustrated catalogue)
1977 The Contemporary Eskimo Prints and Sculpture Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue)
July – August 1981 Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/Giuochi Eschimesi: grafiche et sculpture, National Gallery of Modern Art Rome, Italy (illustrated catalogue)
November – December 1991 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Le Colombier, Ville D’Avray, France
December 1991 - March 1992 In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking, McMichael Canadian Art Collection Kleinburg, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)
June – July 1992 Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)
May – June 1994 Cape Dorset Revisited – a collection of previously unreleased prints, exhibited at several commercial galleries, organized by
West Baffin Eskimo Co-op
Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories
May 1994 – July 1995 Cape Dorset Revisited, McMichael Canadian Art Collection Kleinburg, Ontario (illustrated catalogue)
May – September 1995 Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from the Dene and Inuit of Canada
Institute of American Indian Arts Museum Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)
December 1996 – March 1997 Beelden uit Arctica Canuit
Canadian Eskimo Art Venray, Netherlands
March 1997 Inuit and the Sea
Canadian Eskimo Art Eindhoven, Netherlands
Oct 2009 – Jan 2010 Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking, National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, Ontario (illustrated catalogue)
April - June 2013 Animal Power: Images in Contemporary Inuit Art Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

COLLECTIONS:
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

“Because I am not very old, I don’t usually draw the old ways but in my mind I would like to. Because I am not very old I don’t really remember. I was born on the ship, the Nascopie, when my parents were travelling around Baffin Island. I don’t remember much about those early years but I have one memory of being taken by canoe from the ship to the land by a white man.” - Kakulu Saggiatok, Cape Dorset Print Catalogue, 1978.