Art is a personal form of expression which can find its way through media such as drawing, painting, and sculpture. It is also an excellent way to promote cultural identity and instill pride in one's own heritage. For Aboriginal peoples in Canada, whose art is sought after worldwide, art is also a significant economic activity. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) supports two major cultural programs: the Canadian Inuit Art Information Centre and the Indian Art Centre.

The Indian Art Centre

DIAND's Indian Art Centre program supports and promotes the artistic achievements of artists of Canadian Indian ancestry through an annual juried fine art acquisition for the department's national collection of Indian Art. Art works from the department's collection are loaned for office display to DIAND offices, other governmental institutions and to major art galleries across Canada.

The Indian Art Gallery officially opened on May 3, 1991, in the lobby of the department's headquarters at Les Terrasses de la Chaudière, Hull, Quebec. The gallery showcases rotating exhibitions from the 3,500 works in the department's collection and new works selected in the annual juried fine art acquisition. The Indian Art Centre is currently preparing a Retrospective Exhibition of the National Collection of Indian Art, a major touring exhibition, scheduled for public display in the spring of 1998.

The Indian Art Centre also maintains an up-to-date research centre. Resources include a computerized information data base of the department's National Collection of Indian Art on the SNAP! collections management system, a comprehensive slide library system, and updated artist biographies and exhibition catalogues. The Indian Art Centre may be reached by telephone at (819) 994-1264 or by fax at (819) 953-0165.

The Canadian Inuit Art Information Centre

The art centre program of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) supports and promotes the achievements of Inuit artists in several ways. The centre maintains a comprehensive research library on Inuit art, including a large slide, photo and video collection. Files and database records are kept on 4,000 Inuit artists and artisans; artist biographies based on these files are published in both paper and database versions. Computer databases are also maintained in the centre's library and photolibrary collections.

In addition to artist biographies, the centre produces several educational publications on Inuit art which are distributed to the general public, museums and galleries, and retail galleries. One of these publications is currently available on the Internet under the DIAND home page set up by the departmental library. In addition the centre has produced an educational video on Inuit sculpture. There are plans to produce an educational CD-ROM on Inuit art in the near future.

The centre operates a service to provide advice and general information on Inuit art and artists to the general public, museums, publishers, wholesalers and retail galleries. The Canadian Inuit Art Information Centre can be reached by telephone at (819) 997-8310, by fax at (819) 953-0165, or toll free in North America at 1 800 867-1685.

Inuit Art Foundation

The Inuit Art Foundation receives, through contribution arrangement, some funding annually from DIAND to enable it to undertake a second five-year program to actively assist Inuit artists and artisans from the Northwest Territories, Northern Quebec and Labrador. The foundation publishes the Inuit Art Quarterly magazine, holds workshops for Inuit artists in the south and the north, and educates Inuit artists on issues such as safety, quarrying, marketing, and forming artists associations. The foundation replaces the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council and assumes some of the functions previously performed by that organization.

This is one of a series of information sheets produced by the Communications Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. For information sheets on other topics, contact:

Public Enquiries Kiosk
Department of Indian Affairs
and Northern Development
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H4
Telephone: (819) 997-0380

QS-6047-034-EE-A1

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