For a child, anything can become a doll: a stick, a leaf, a bit of ragged leather. In the past, children learned at an early age how to scrape and tan hides, spin thread and weave it into cloth, or sew boots with animal sinew. Making doll clothes was a way to perfect these essential skills.

Sewing Our Traditions is a gorgeous collection of 50 hand-made dolls created by Inuit and First Nations artists from across the Canadian North. The doll-makers exquisitely record and reflect northern life and customs using tiny intricate details like beaded moccasins and materials such as locally trapped fur and home-tanned hide.

This exhibition provides a delightful overview of the skill and ingenuity of fine crafts artists from across the three northern territories.

Artists
Yukon: Dolores Anderson, Winnie Atlin, Irene Blackiack, Jenny Jackson, Pearl Keenan, Lena Sanford, Annie Smith, Rachael Thompson, Lena White

Northwest Territories: Mary Rose Charlo, Sarah Cleary, Cora Kimiksana, Margaret Nazon, Mary Trimble, Suza’ Tsetso, Lillian Wright

Nunavut : Alice Anablak, Lizzie Angootealuk, Susie Angootealuk, Annie Cookie, Helen Ell-Natakok, Ayowna Emiktowt, Helen Iguptaq, Lizzie Ittinuar, Olayuk Kigutikajuk, Sarah Novalinga, Annie Tookalook, Sarah Uppik

Curator: Jennifer Bowen

Organized and circulated by the Yukon Arts Centre with the generous support of the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut Governments