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Ten cultural workers from theindigenous regions of the RussianNorth spent two weeks in Canada

this past April to learn first-handhow Canadian Inuit art is marketedand promoted. The objective of theworkshop — From Producers toConsumers — was to provide anoverview of the process by whichCanadian Inuit art gets from thehands of producers in arctic villagesinto the hands of consumers aroundthe globe. It was an unprecedentedopportunity to see in person how artwork is promoted, priced and distributed through the marketingsystem unique to Canadian Inuit art,and the envy of indigenous producerseverywhere in the world.

Discussion and analysis of the mar-keting system was reinforced withon-site presentations at wholesalersand retailers in Toronto and guidedtours of public art galleries in Torontoand Ottawa. Although funds pre-vented the Russian interns from visiting an arctic village, the Arcticcame to them in the form of theeight directors of the Inuit ArtFoundation who arranged theirannual spring board meeting to coin-cide with the last week of the work-shop. They were joined by 12 other

artists at Arts Alive 05, a weekendarts festival and cultural exchangethat brought the event to a climacticclose. This opportunity to interactformally and informally with theinterns was an important componentof the workshop; for, as well as maxi-mizing the exchange of ideas, it willinevitably result in helping to over-come the isolation of northern artiststhrough the establishing of new connections.

Spearheaded by the Inuit ArtFoundation (IAF), the workshopmarked the end of a broader ini-tiative backed by the CanadianInternational Development Agency(CIDA), the Inuit CircumpolarConference (ICC-Canada), theDepartment of Indian Affairs andNorthern Development (DIAND)and the Russian Association of

Indigenous Peoples of the North(RAIPON), which sought to estab-lish a foundation for the sustainablepolitical, economic and culturaldevelopment of Russia’s many indige-nous peoples. From Producers toConsumers, was a follow-up toConnecting Cultures, a 2002 work-shop in Tyumen, Siberia delivered by IAF President Mattiusi Iyaituk andIAF staff, as well as staff of the Indianand Inuit Art Centres (DIAND).

A New Network StretchingOver a Vast RegionPreviously unknown to each other,the Russian interns established a newnetwork stretching over a vast areaof land. Of the 10 workshop partici-pants who travelled to Canada, mostcame from regions in Siberia and the

F O C U S O N :

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FROM PRODUCERS

(left) Inuit Art Foundation directors (from leftto right) Okpik Pitseolak, Mattiusi Iyaituk andMathew Nuqingaq, with Siberian intern LiliaBanakanova (far right). s4W4 W5ysM6,m5tsy w/w5g6 x7ml mts kez6 xmoox XNvk? sMn3us5

Intern Valeri Nypevgi, director of the Uelen art studio, points to his coastal village inChukotka, Russia on a circumpolar map. ?lE iWr

TO CONSUMERS CULTURAL WORKERS FROM SIBERIA COME TO CANADA TO LEARN ABOUT INUIT ART

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memory. And I took those sketchesand I am now reconstructing thisinstrument from those sketches.”

Vladimir Sulyandziga, anotherwoodcarver, was the sole representa-tive from the Primorsk region, asouthern region of the Russian FarEast. In addition to wanting to learnabout the pricing and marketing ofInuit art, Sulyandziga was also inter-ested in brushing up on his carvingtechnique, something he later got toexplore at the Arts Alive 05 festival.

Elena Krikunenko, a late additionto the Siberian delegation, came toCanada’s capital via Moscow, whereshe works as an outreach coordinatorfor the Russian Indigenous TrainingCentre. The five-year-old centre,established by the Institution-buildingfor Northern Russian IndigenousPeoples’ Project (INRIPP) to helppromote the sustainable development of Russia’s indigenous peoples, hasseveral branch offices to keep theexpanding network connected.According to Krikunenko, her orga-nization is still at the embryonicstage of supporting the indigenousarts, but she hoped to acquire moreof the know-how and connections tohelp this vital industry thrive.

Each of the interns had their ownreason for coming to Canada; somewere representatives from indigenoussupport agencies, while others wereindigenous artists looking to improvetheir marketing and business acumen.Their one commonality, outside oftheir country of origin, was a desire topreserve and develop their indigenousculture and economy through theenhancement of their artistic heritage.

“Indigenous people from aroundthe globe are expressing an interestin learning the key to the success ofCanadian Inuit art,” said MarybelleMitchell, executive director of theInuit Art Foundation. “It is not justthat Canadian Inuit art is well-known, it also sells at higher pricesthan can typically be obtained forcommunity artwork from elsewhere.”

While Canadian Inuit art, andsupporting agencies like the IAF, arelooked upon as models for indigenousdevelopment the world over, Mitchellcautions that indigenous groups shouldnot expect to replicate the conditionsthat led to the global prominence ofInuit art. “I think it is important not

to raise false expectations that whathappened in Canada can be repeated,”she told the interns during a market-ing seminar. “I believe that there was,in the mid-20th century, a particularconvergence of priorities and eventsthat resulted in Canadian Inuit workfinding a unique marketing niche.”

Through the sharing of practices,the organizers hoped that the Russianinterns would be able to learn fromthe Canadian Inuit experience, lessonsthey could take home with them totheir respective communities. “Weknow that the situation in their homecountry is different but we hope thatthey will have found some good ideashere to adapt to their own situation,”said IAF president Mattiusi Iyaituk.

According to Shuganova there ismuch to learn from the CanadianInuit experience, but it will need tobe tailored to the circumstances ofeach Siberian community. “I can certainly apply this experience in mycommunity but it will be on a differ-ent level, because we do not havethe same level of administrative support,” she said. “The marketingsystem could be used as a model forus. When I am back, we will try toorganize an analytical seminar and a regional program for the develop-ment and support of indigenous art.”

From the Land to the MarketAs well as participating in seminarsand activities in Ottawa, the Russianinterns spent three days in Torontowhere they were given special pre-sentations from some wholesalers and dealers. They learned about thecooperative structure in the CanadianNorth from R.J. Ramrattan, buyer forArctic Cooperatives Limited. Theyalso received wholesale marketingadvice from Nunavut DevelopmentCorporation’s Tom Chapman, man-ager of sales and marketing. “I thinkI communicated to the group thatone of the successes of our corporationis the support of the Government ofNunavut,” Chapman said:

Because of the geographic challenges— and certainly with what it is thatthey are trying to accomplish — it’svery important that a governing body... recognizes the challenges andlends them support financially and otherwise to get things rolling. It’s next

Russian Far East, including Chukotka,Yamal, Khanty-Mansiysk, Kamchatkaand Primorsk. At the beginning ofthe workshop, they indicated theircommunities on a circumpolar mapand spoke about their lives andtheir art.

Elena Takieva and Vera Rosheva,from the Yamal region, talked abouttheir efforts to preserve the traditionsof their indigenous people. “We aretrying to create full-time jobs for ourartists so that we can preserve thetraditions of our people, unfortunatelymany of which are lost,” said Takieva,who works as the deputy director of the District House of Arts andCrafts in Salekhard. “We are tryingto create a system like we see herein Canada.”

Valeri Nypevgi and AndreiRakhtuvi, from the Uelen bonecarver’s studio in a small village on the east coast of Chukotka, marvelled at the similarities in art,religion and way of life between theInuit of Canada and the Siberianparticipants. “We represent a singleculture that is spread across theNorth,” Nypevgi later concluded.The two interns enhanced their pre-sentation with a video documentaryof their community, produced withthe assistance of CIDA.

Elena Posvolskaya and LiliaBanakanova, both of whom live in the Kamchatka Peninsula, areapproaching the preservation of their culture from different angles.Posvolskaya, a community chair, is the marketer of a traditional syrup-like product called “KamchatkaHoney” while Banakanova is thefounder of a performing folk

troupe in Anavgai called Nurgenek(“A Dancing Festival”).

Galina Shuganova and Ilya Raishev,from the Khanty-Mansiysk district,are both interested in reviving thearts and culture of the Khanty andMansi peoples. Shuganova, managerof the arts and culture department of a community organization calledCreative Association — Culture,helps to organize workshops andopen-air museums (which resembletraditional reindeer herding camps)to promote the local arts and culture.

Raishev, a decorative fine arts student studying woodcarving, isworking on a project to revive thecrane, a native Mansi instrumentonce used in customary celebrationsand to commune with the spiritual

world, but which now only exists in the form of sketches at the localmuseum. “We don’t have muchinformation on this instrument. And I assume that basically it was an artist a long time ago who madethis in the first place,” Raishev said.“There is a person who has puttogether sketches. It was somebodywho had seen the instrument as achild and he made sketches from

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Sheila Sturk-Green (front), communications manager for the Inuit Art Foundation, organized a tour of art galleries, wholesalers and dealers in Toronto for the Siberian artists. To her left isNikita Kiriloff who, along with Ann Mollon, provided translation services. yM yg4 x7m irbrEM

(right) Tom Chapman, sales manager forNunavut Development Corporation,

explained the complexities of marketingand promoting products made in remote

indigenous communities. b7 n2m8

Ilya Raishev looks through an art catalogue with Lucien Kabvitok ofArviat. wo/ Cwy x7m lyx8 cFg6

IAF president Mattiusi Iyaituk and Valeri Nypevgi of Chukotka inthe Henry Moore gallery at the Art Gallery of Ontario. m5tsyw/w5g6 x7ml ?lE iWr

Workshop participants at the offices of the Inuit Art Foundationattended seminars and lectures on the marketing system forCanadian Inuit art and watched educational videos. wo8ixcbsJ5

“We know that the situationin their home country is

different but we hope thatthey will have found somegood ideas here to adapt

to their own situation”— Mattiusi Iyaituk

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country themselves. They need assis-tance. And we can reach people inter-nationally in so many ways.

In Ottawa, the interns had morethan a few opportunities to see howInuit art is exhibited, including insome of Canada’s most distinguishedvenues: the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the NationalGallery of Canada. Both of theseinstitutions help to reinforce the distinction between Inuit art and the craftwork and souvenirs also produced in arctic communities.Since the National Gallery is thegatekeeper of Canadian art — theultimate arbiter of quality — the fact that it collects Inuit art speaks volumes about the eminence the art-form has achieved in Canada.

At DIAND offices, the internswere given tours of the Indian andInuit Art Centres and multi-mediapresentations outlining the centres’programs and activities. These pre-sentations helped to underscore thespecial nature of the DIAND-runfacilities, which allow the Canadiangovernment to continue its historicalrole of promoting Inuit art. There,interns also met with Inuit art cura-tor Heather Campbell, a graduate ofthe Inuit Art Foundation’s CulturalIndustries Training Program. “I waspleased that the Inuit Art Centrewas able to host the interns fromSiberia,” Campbell said:

I had learned so much during my trip to Eastern Siberia in 2002 that I was eager to share our knowledge,experiences, and culture with themduring their trip to Canada. Hands-on experience is crucial to a better

of praise and gratitude for the wealthof experience that was gained. “As ayoung artist just starting out I havelearned a lot,” said intern Ilya Raishev,a decorative fine arts student fromKhanty-Mansiysk. “It is very impor-tant to exchange experience becausewe can learn so much from eachother. Some problems are similar,some of them have already beensolved in Canada [that] we are justfacing now.”

understanding of the Inuit art market-ing system. How the interns will usethis information to further develop themarketing of indigenous art in Siberiawill be an inspiration to us all.

At Arts Alive 5, the Russian internsreceived hands-on assistance in thedisplaying, pricing and presentationof artwork. By all indicators, theworkshop was a huge success.Feedback culled from the intern’sevaluation of the program was full

to impossible for an artist to take some-thing from the land and successfully getit placed and marketed and representedand promoted and understood, from A to Z, on his own accord. There hasto be a formal structure in place thatassists all the way along.

In addition to touring the Art Galleryof Ontario, where the group viewed a modest exhibition of prints by Kenojuak Ashevak and thepermanent exhibition of HenryMoore sculpture, they also visitedtwo commercial art dealers in

Toronto: Feheley Fine Arts, aprivately owned family businessspecializing in Inuit fine art, and the Guild Shop, a non-profit retailgallery owned and controlled by theOntario Craft Council. “We areshowcasing and helping the artists,”said Ann Tompkins, the Guild Shop’sInuit and Native Gallery Director.

That’s why we exist, to display theirwork and help them. Not just Inuitartists, but others who are able to pro-duce good things. [They] can’t person-ally market their work across the

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(above) Nuna Parr of Cape Dorset examinesan ivory caribou crafted by an artist at theUelen art studio in Chukotka. kN X, rzus

(left) From left to right: Galina Shuganova,Vera Rosheva, Elena Posvolskaya andVladmir Sulyandziga. ZoN hvk?, FsCCy?, woN Xn?v/, x7ml ?tus h/8pv

Interns listened to seminars using simultaneous translation technology. trymJ5

From left to right: Vera Rosheva, Valeri Nypevgi, Lena Krikunenko, Galina Shuganova and ElenaTakieva. =sC Cy?, ?lE iWQ, oN fEfif, ZoN hZk?, woN br?.

“It’s next to impossible for

an artist to take something from the land and

successfully get it placed, marketed,

represented, promoted and

understood, from A to Z, on his own accord” — Tom Chapman

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