Manasie Akpaliapik

(PANEELOO; AKPALIAPI; AKPALEAPIK; AKPIALIK)
Born: August 23, 1955
Male
E5-1155

Manasie was raised in a family of artists. His adoptive father and mother, Lazaroosee and Nakyuraq Akpaliapik are both sculptors in the community of Arctic Bay. His grandparents, artists Peter and Elisapee Kanangnaq Ahlooloo, and his maternal great aunt Paniluk Qamanirq began to teach him to carve when he was about ten years old. He learned to carve by watching them, and as they carved the elders entertained Manasie with Inuit legends and stories.

Exhibitions

March – May 1985
Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)

March 1988
Arctic Forms – Inuit Sculpture Arctic
Inuit Art Gallery
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

June – September 1988
Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba

January – September 1990
Arctic Mirror
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Hull, Quebec

February – March 1991
Jawbone Sculpture
The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Toronto, Ontario

November – December 1991
The Hand: Images in Inuit Sculpture
The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)

February – August 1992
Inuit Art on the Mezzanine: New Acquisitions
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)

February – September 1992
Inuit Art: Drawings and Recent Sculpture
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

April – May 1992
Salon International Europ’art ’92
presented by Galerie Saint Merri
Geneva, Switzerland

June – October 1992
Nouveau Territoires…350/500 Ans Apres
Presented at les maisons de la culture Cote-des-Neiges, Notre-Dame-de-Grace, and Rosemont-Petite Patrie
Montreal Recreation and Community Development Service and les Ateliers Visions Planetaire
Montreal, Quebec
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)

November 1992 – January 1993
Borealis: Inuit Images of Man and Animals
Freeport Art Museum and Cultural Centre
Freeport, Illinois

April – July 1993
Multiple Realities:
Inuit Images of Shamanic Transformation
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)

November – December 1993
Sculpture Inuit et Retrospective Pudlo Pudlat
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal, Quebec

November – December 1993
Inuit Sculpture
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal, Quebec

November 1993 – March 1994
The Inuit Imagination
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba

May – June 1994
Share the Vision
Philadelphians Collect Inuit Art
Art Space Gallery
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

August – October 1994
Inuit Art from the Canadian Arctic
Bayly Art Museum
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.

March – July 1995
Immaginario Inuit
Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Verona, Italy
(illustrated catalogue)

May – September 1995
Keeping Our Stories Alive:
An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada
Institute of American Indian Arts Museum Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)

November 1995
Inspiration Four Decades of Sculpture
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

March – November 1996
Head and Face: Selected Views of Inuit Sculpture
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

November – December 1996
New Visions
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

March – April 1997
Sculpture Inuit
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal, Quebec
(brochure)

May 1997
itinraire Inuit rencontrer un peuple travers son art
held at Unesco headquarters
sponsored by association Inuksuk L’homme debo
Paris, France
(catalogue)

May 1997
Nunavut/Nunavik: Sculpture in the Time of Change Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

June 1997
Singing & Dancing & Playing
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(brochure)

Solo exhibitions

May 1989
Ivory Carvings by Manasie Akpaliapik
Images Art Gallery
Toronto, Ontario

August – November 1990
Manasie: The Art of Manasie Akpaliapik
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)

September 1996
In Harmony with Nature: Sculpture by Manasie Akpaliapik
Arctic Artistry
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A.

Collections

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
Musee d’art Inuit Brousseau, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Selected references

Ayre, John
CARVING IS HEALING TO ME: An Interview with Manassie Akpaliapik. Inuit Art Quarterly: Vol. 8, No. 4, Winter 1993, pp. 34-42.

Breakthrough Films and Television, Inc.
CRY OF THE ANCESTORS: the art of Manasie Akpaliapik. Produced by Breakthrough Films and Television, Inc. in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with the assistance of Telefilm Canada, 1994.

Driscoll, Bernadette
UUMAJUT: Animal Imagery in Inuit art. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985.

Gillmore, Alison
UUMAJUT: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art. Arts Manitoba, vol. 4, no. 3, Summer, 1985. pp.20-23.

Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
KEEPING OUR STORIES ALIVE: An Exhibition of Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada. Santa Fe, N.M.: Institute of American Native Arts Museum, 1995.

Lagasse, Robert
MANASIE AKPALIAPIK TALKS ABOUT « DOING » AND TEACHING ART: Interview by Robert Lagasse. Inuit Art Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 4, Summer 1990, pp. 24-26.

Millard, Peter
ON QUALITY IN ART: Who decides. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 3, Summer/Fall 1992, pp. 4-14.

Muehlen, Maria
DRAWINGS AND RECENT SCULPTURE AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 3, Summer/Fall 1992, p. 45.

Seidelman, Harold and James Turner
THE INUIT IMAGINATION: Arctic Myth and Sculpture. Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1993.

Swinton, George
SCULPTURE OF THE INUIT: Rev. and updated edition of Sculpture of the Eskimo. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1992.

Swinton, George
THE ART OF MANASIE AKPALIAPIK: A review essay. Inuit Art Quarterly, 6(2) Spring 1991: 42-45.

Verona.Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
IMMAGINARIO INUIT: ARTE E CULTURA DEGLI ESQUIMESICANADESI. Commune di Verona: Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Palazzo Forti, 1995.

Vision Planetaire
NOUVEAUX TERRITOIRES: 350/500 ANS APRES: Une exposition d’art aborigene contemporain du Canada. Montreal: Vision Planetaire: Ville de Montreal: UNESCO, 1992.

Wight, Darlene
BUILDING ON STRENGTHS: New Inuit Art from the Collection. Tableau, vol. 1, no.5, 1988. p.4.

Wight, Darlene
INUIT TRADITION AND BEYOND: New attitudes toward art-making in the 1980’s. Inuit Art Quarterly, 6(2) Spring 1991: 9-15.

Wight, Darlene
MANASIE : THE ART OF MANASIE AKPALIAPIK. Winnipeg : The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990.

HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS

1989 March: Received a Canada Council Explorations Grant for a project entitled « North Baffin Island Legends. » The research will be carried out in Igloolik and Arctic Bay, and will focus on Kiviok’s legendary voyage.

1989 Was one of the Canadian representatives at the Ainu Cultural Society conference in Shraoi Hokaido (near Sapporo), Japan.

1989 Travelled to Ottawa to meet with the Board of Directors of the Inuit Art Foundation in December. Subsequently, he became a Board member.

1990 Manasie appeared on the cover of the Spring issue of Inuit Art Quarterly magazine.

1990 Took part in a workshop for international indigenous artists at the Canadian Museum of Civilization held by the Om niiak Native Arts Group.

1993 Akpaliapik’s (untitled) sculpture is featured on the cover of the Inuit Art Quarterly (Winter 1993).

1996 Lead a sculpture workshop entitled « Images of Head and Face », which was held in conjunction with the exhibition « Head and Face: Selected Views of Inuit Sculpture ».

Last Revised: February 2001 (c) Inuit Art Section, INAC