Cape Dorset inuit art print Collection 2026

Dorset Fine Arts was established in Toronto in 1978 as the wholesale marketing division of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. The Co-operative is in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut and is unique among the Arctic Co-operatives for its focus on the arts and artists of the community. Dorset Fine Arts was established to develop and serve the market for Inuit fine art produced by the artist members of the Co-operative.

The Annual Graphics Collection from Cape Dorset has been released since 1959 and the Co-operative also represents many acclaimed sculptors and graphic artists. Sales and exhibitions of prints, drawings and sculptures are made through the Dorset Fine Arts showroom in Toronto to galleries around the world.

2026 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection Catalogue

Foreword
Snow buntings are nesting in the rocks below Kinngait Studios and singing their warning tune as people venture nearby. Ravens and gulls are sharing an electricity pole outside the breakroom window, competing for attention. The birds’ eye is all-seeing and reappears throughout this year’s collection. 

It stares out from the centre of Upikjuaq Ijilu (Owl and Eye), suspended between the wingtips of a snowy owl, with legs spread and kamiks firmly planted on the ground. Snowy owls are not as common in Kinngait nowadays, but they remain an inspiration. This pocket-sized linocut was made by Laina Geetah, marking her first introduction to the print collection both as an artist and a printmaker. 

Golden-yellow eyes stare out of the black, silhouetted forms of two owls in Ijingi Qaymajuuk (Bright Eyes), a hand-coloured stonecut drawn by Laina and printed by Qavavau Manumie. Earlier this year, Laina started working with stonecut under Qavavau’s guidance: “It opened my eyes to a new level of what I have to put in that paper for it to get printed.” 

The owl is diving, wings tucked in close, as it plummets towards its prey in Ashley Qavavau’s Focus; the snowy owl is a top predator. In Kanarvalik Niviaqsi’s Taking Flight, the owl is distracted, looking out at us instead. Loons shimmer on the horizon before a setting sun in Quvianaqtuk Pudlat’s stonecut and stencil. Love Doves share a kiss in Saimaiyu Akesuk’s lithograph, while the tendril-like feathers, alternating in shades of green, spiral out from the elongated form of an owl in Ooloosie Saila’s Spiritual Owl. Saimaiyu’s Plump Owls are weighted down to the ground; these birds aren’t taking flight anytime soon. 

In Ningiukulu Teevee’s Guardian, a polar bear has scooped up an owl in its front paw. This is a “sassy owl,” says Ning. It was making jokes and throwing insults at the polar bear, who has now enacted its revenge.

Amid the sunset landscapes of Nicotye Samayualie and Padloo Samayualie (both printed by Niveaksie Quvianaqtuliaq), and turbulent waters in Ooloosie’s Ingirariniq (Strong Currents), polar bears swim through Arctic seas, cross the tundra, and navigate the sea ice. A bear drifts through celestial water in Quvianaqtuk Pudlat’s Plunging Bear. Here, the passing of artist and prominent Elder Ohito Ashoona is felt. The latter was known for his carvings of bears, and his first print Prowling Bear appeared in the 2019 collection. “My favourite is the polar bear, with a mother and cub. The mother laying down and the little baby on the back,” he said when we spoke last year. Days after Ohito’s funeral, two polar bears crossed the broken ice in Tellik Inlet and feasted on the remains of a beluga caught the night before, fending off the ravens and gulls as they ate. 

As this year’s collection is published, millions of migratory birds will be taking to the skies, their journey southwards beginning once again. Meanwhile, we can live vicariously through the lives and stories of birds, bears, and all manner of other creatures that this collection tells. 

- Dr. Isabelle Gapp, Co-Director, The Centre for the North, University of Aberdeen