Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq

Places of work recorded in the authority are Baker Lake. Work by Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Canada, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, National Museum of World Cultures, Canada Council Art Bank and Winnipeg Art Gallery. Distinctions recorded are Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

• Name — Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq • Born — 1941 • Birthplace — north shore of Tebesjuak Lake near Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada • Spouse — David Tiktaalaaq • Known for — graphic artist, fabric artist, sculpture

Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq was born on the north shore of Tebesjuak Lake near Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada. Although she believes she was born in 1941, she was once told by an acquaintance that her actual year of birth was 1936. At that time in the area, the dates of births on the land were not generally recorded. Her mother, Gualittuaq, died shortly after Avaalaaqiaq was born, and her father, Itiplui, unable to care for her, so her grandparents raised her on the land in the customary Inuit style. Speaking of her childhood, Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq said: Whenever I see my wall hangings they remind me of my life. Also I always remember my grandmother and the stories and legends she told me. When I grew up there were no other people except my grandparents. I had never seen white people. When I do sewing and make a wall hanging I do what I remember. I can see it clear as a picture. When I am looking at it, it looks like it is actually happening in those days, as it was in my life. On August 9, 1956, she married David Tiktaalaaq in Baker Lake. They moved to Baker Lake in 1958, where Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq gave birth to one of their children.

Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq began her art career between 1969 and 1970 with small soapstone carvings, often of animals with human heads. Her works are part of the collections at the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

• Two Great Image Makers from Baker Lake, 1999 (with Josiah Nuilaalik) • Works On Cloth, 2002 Institutions that have held exhibitions of her work, as cited in Judith Nasby's book Irene Avaalaaqiaq: myth and reality include: • Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario • Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan • Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario • Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland • Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec • Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec • Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario • CIBC Collection, Toronto, Ontario • Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown, • Prince Edward Island • Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, • Michigan • Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona • Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada, Ottawa, Ontario • Itsarnittakarvik: Inuit Heritage Centre, Baker Lake, Nunavut • Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario • Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario • McMaster Museum of Art, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario • McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario • Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan • Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec • Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, • British Columbia • National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario • Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories • University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta • University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware • University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta • University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick • Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq is recorded with the occupation tapestry maker. Recorded as printmaker, draftsperson, sculptor, embroiderer and tapestry maker.