Possibly the most unusual works in this photo collection of sculptures are the tupilait. Tupilait (sing. tupilak) have a particular association with Greenland. The oldest extant examples and explanatory documents about them are from Ammassalik, East Greenland, where production of them increased during the 1890s in connection with changing climatic conditions that almost wiped out the people living there. A tupilak is a kind of amulet that shamans create from a variety of naturally occurring materials to conjure malevolent spirit forces against those whom they seek to overpower. Once considered dangerous because the activated forces might return and do harm to the tupilak’s creator and because the mere sight of a tupilak could be fatal, tupilait were transformed into marketable carvings in the early twentieth century and became popular items. As the opening biographical section in Isuma explains, Ruben is descended from Quumangaapik, one of those who followed a shaman to Thule in Greenland in the mid-19th century. Ruben’s baleen and sperm whale tooth tupilait are shown in full-page colour views and in a two-page spread of 18 details. Such images not only recall the general aspects of traditional life that have long been the hallmark of Inuit art but also resonate with the associations and memories of specific individuals whose stories have been passed down from generation to generation. Isuma thus has a place in personal and public libraries devoted to Inuit folklore and history, as well as art.
MARCOUX KOMANGAPIK, Estelle, Geneviève LAROCQUE, Ruben Anton KOMANGAPIK and Dorothee KOMANGAPIK, 2011 Isuma: The Art and Imagination of Ruben Anton Komangapik, Iqaluit, Inhabit Media. 160 pages.[Record]
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Emily E. Auger
Independent scholar, Canada
augeremily@gmail.com