Northern artists shine at festival

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Artists from across the North will be gathering in Inuvik for 10 days this summer as the community again plays host to the Great Northern Arts Festival.

This is the thirteenth year for the festival, held this year from July 13 to 22.

The number of artists taking part in the event has tripled since the first festival in 1989, and the size of the venue has quintupled, said Tanya Van Valkenburg, executive director.

#However, over the years, the festival's mandate-to foster the education of northern artists, and to promote northern art and artists worldwide-has remained unchanged.

In addition to meeting its mandate, the festival has an added objective, to include the visiting public in a celebration of northern art and culture.

One of the main elements of the festival is an art gallery, featuring works created by artists from across the North. About 1,600 works of art will be on display in this year's gallery, ranging from stone, bone and ivory sculptures, to paintings, prints and photographs, to jewelry, traditional clothing and sewing. Almost all the art on display in the gallery will be available for purchase, so in addition to promoting the artists, the festival also helps translate that promotion into sales.

Those attending the festival will also have the opportunity to learn more about the artists and their work first-hand, thanks to the demonstration portion of the event.

"Every year we bring approximately 90 artists from across the three northern territories, and a few guest artists from southern Canada, and they demonstrate their techniques during the 10 days," Van Valkenburg explained. "We have tables set up in the centre of the gallery where they produce their artwork, and they talk to the public, and the public can see how they do it, and try some things out with them."

Each year carving tents are also set up outside of the festival where carvers talk to the public while creating artwork that is then available for sale at the festival. This feature is very exciting for a lot of the visitors, who get an opportunity to buy works of art they actually saw being created, Van Valkenburg said.

Three different types of art workshops are also held during the festival. One set of workshops is open just to participating artists, giving them an opportunity to learn from other artists. The other two sets of workshops are open to the public, with one set aimed specifically at youth.

"So that's a very exciting thing, because they get to create their own work of art while they're on site," Van Valkenburg said.

Another feature of the festival offered specifically to the artists is a series of business seminars, designed to provide information about the business side of being an artist.

As in past years, entertainment also plays a big part in the Great Northern Arts Festival.

The theme of this year's entertainment portion is Fiddling "On the Roof", exploring the roots of fiddling in Northern Canada, and how it has developed over the last century.

#"We're bringing in a fiddler from the Orkney Islands in Scotland, which is where many of the Hudson Bay people came from, and they brought fiddling. And fiddling has become a really significant part of northern Aboriginal culture and Metis culture," Van Valkenburg said.

The festival will feature traditional fiddle music as well as jazz, classical, interpretive and contemporary music, with impromptu jam sessions during the day and a more structured entertainment schedule in the evenings.

Another highlight of this year's festival is a fashion show. A perennial favorite festival feature among local community members, the show introduces creations from across the North.

For more information about the Great Northern Arts Festival, visit the festival Web site at http://www.greatart.nt.ca. For information about accommodations in or around Inuvik during the festival, contact Brian Desjardins, tourism co-ordinator with the Town of Inuvik at 867-777-4321 or by e-mail at BDesjrdins@town.inuvik.nt.ca.

For information about Great Northern Arts Festival tour packages, contact Mack Travel at 877-777-2941 or by e-mail at info@macktravel.ca.