Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Maine
Posted: Jun 19th, 2025 | News

During a trip to Toronto just before COVID arrived, Genevieve LeMoine, Curator of the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, visited the exhibition Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios at the Textile Museum of Canada. Fortunately, the visit happened just before the Museum closed because of mandated lockdowns. 

The moment she saw the exhibition, Lemoine knew it would be perfect to install in their new museum. At the time, design for the new building was completed, and plans to break ground were set for mid-March 2020, on the very same day the college sent everyone home. As a result, they were delayed by a year. Lemoine was aware of these textiles, as she had seen them come up for auction in Toronto, which piqued her interest. That auction was the same spark that ignited interest at the Textile Museum, where staff went down to Waddington’s to have a look a collection of 20 Inuit printed fabrics available to bidders. We had enjoyed a preview of similar textiles at the offices of Dorset Fine Arts in Toronto – this is the collection that came to the Museum shortly after the auction as a long-term loan – and where the story of the exhibition begins. 

Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios shines a light on the little-known story of a group of Inuit artists and printmakers who produced these remarkable textiles in the 1950s and ‘60s – a period of social change that disrupted traditional language and relationships to the land. It traces the evolution and impact of this short-lived textile enterprise on Inuit graphic arts and explores its continued relevance through the work of present-day Inuit artists and fashion designers. It was on view at the Textile Museum of Canada from 2019 to 2022, however closed during parts of this period due to COVID. It has toured to the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in Alberta, the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, and it is now on view at the Peary-Macmillan Arctic Museum in Brunswick, Maine until October, 2025. 

The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum holds a collection which is focused on the Arctic, mostly the eastern Arctic. It began with a major donation from Donald MacMillan, including his many thousands of photographs and motion picture films. The collection includes materials related to historic exploration, Inuit daily life in the first half of the 20th century, and some natural history collections. Over the last 15 years they began actively expanding their collection of Inuit art from across the North, so according to Lemoine, this exhibit fit perfectly with that initiative.  

When I arrived at the museum a couple of days before the opening, I was thrilled to see the fabrics beautifully installed in the gallery of the third venue on the tour. Lydia Romero, Exhibit Coordinator, describes her experience with the installation: 

“The Kinngait exhibition is the first exhibit that I’ve designed here at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, as I am fairly new in my role.  Most of our own collection is from expeditions from the late 19th and early 20th century—so I was surprised and delighted to get to know a more contemporary collection from the Arctic especially since it was so art/artist-centered.  I really try to immerse myself in the subject of whatever I’m designing, so it was really exciting to get to know the works and methods of these graphic artists. The original exhibit was in a 3500 square foot space and our gallery is only 2500 sq. ft., so that was the challenge. I was afraid it was going to feel too cramped or overwhelming, but I think it worked out, and we were able to accommodate more than 95% of the exhibit in our space. I think the high ceilings in our space helped it to still feel open and airy.”  

The Arctic Museum holds a unique collection of textiles, embroidered table linens mostly, made in Nunatsiavut. They depict Inukuluit, little people, engaged in all sorts of outdoor activities. These textiles have roots in the Moravian church – girls learned embroidery in the Moravian school (which Donald MacMillan helped support financially) and women in church-sponsored sewing circles also embroidered, creating items for the church to sell to raise money. It is not clear when this started, according to Lemoine, but likely in the 1930s or ‘40s. Later, as Heather Igloliorte, Kinngait exhibition Project Advisor, has written about, women began embroidering on clothing, particularly parkas, for themselves, their families and for sale. Lemoine says women don’t embroider table linens anymore, but they continue to embroider clothing. Their collection includes over 100 pieces, collected by Donald MacMillan and his wife, Miriam.    

As part of Bowdoin College, the Arctic Museum actively encourages classes to use both the exhibits and the collection in their assignments. There is also an active program for local schools, mostly elementary, but some middle and even high school classes visit, as well as home school groups. They have trained docents to guide them. They also offer Saturday “family day” activities from time to time, including crafts and stories for children.  

According to staff, visitors have been enjoying the exhibit, and they have shared many positive comments; some visitors came to the exhibition after hearing about it from friends. 

These printed fabrics, and other attempts to produce handicrafts in the North for southern markets, demonstrate the ability of Inuit to adapt, innovate and creatively find solutions to problems.  

Over the last five years, the Kinngait exhibition has toured in Canada and now the US, bringing the story of this remarkable initiative to broad audiences with visitors of all ages. When I began my tour of the exhibition in Brunswick, I enjoyed watching the faces of the visitors light up in wonder as they came into the gallery. It was a robust turnout on opening night, and visitors enthusiastically engaged with the story that captures and celebrates the fabric printing initiative.  

Drawing from a spectrum of local and global influences, the artists and printmakers created a unique body of work that expresses Inuit values and culture, while preserving Inuit knowledge, oral histories, and legends, and demonstrating the importance of printed fabrics in the ongoing evolution of Inuit graphic arts. 

Explore the Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios exhibition further and purchase the exhibition Catalogue from the Textile Museum shop!

ᖃᓪᓗᓈᖅᑕᐃᑦ ᓯᑯᓯᓛᕐᒥᑦ Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios presents the little-known story of a group of Inuit artists and printmakers who produced a collection of graphic textiles in Kinngait, (Cape Dorset, Nunavut) in the 1950s and 60s – a period of social change that disrupted traditional language and relationships to the land.

Scarves featuring an original design by Inuk artist Parr of Kinngait Studios are also available for purchase.