Untitled (Five Figures)

Inscriptions

Numbered, in graphite, lower left: 0-151; reverse, in graphite, lower right: 225-

Label

These two drawings by Jessie Oonark exhibit the artist’s characteristic bold use of color and her confident execution of lines. The bottom drawing depicts the performance of katajjaq (throat singing). Women developed katajjaq from a game they played during evenings while men were away hunting. One woman begins to sing, followed by another, with the game ending when someone loses her breath, breaks concentration, or laughs. The two women singing are wearing amautiit, women’s parkas made for carrying children. The three figures on the lower register appear to be watching the katajjaq, their positions indicating conviviality and intimacy with one another.

From the 2021 exhibition A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Katherine W. Hart, Senior Curator of Collections and Barbara C. & Harvey P. Hood 1918 Curator of Academic Programming; John R. Stomberg Ph.D, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director; Jessica Hong, Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art; and Melissa McCormick, Professor of Japanese Art and Culture at Harvard University

Exhibition History

Inuit Art

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection, Class of 1967 Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 4, 2021–February 6, 2022.

Publication History

John R. Stomberg, A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein collection; Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College, Hood Museum of Art, 2021, listed p.100.

Provenance

Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; sold to Jane and Raphael Bernstein, Ridgewood, New Jersey, July 19, 1974; lent to present collection, 2011; given to present collection, 2013.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subjects