Meet Artist, Taalrumiq

Taalrumiq is one of the artists participating in Woodland Cultural Centre’s Virtual Face Mask Auction, Ga:hǫh ne’ hni’ ga:howe:kso/Covered and Uncovered. The auction is in response to the new realities created by the global coronavirus pandemic impacting so many Indigenous communities across the country, with 50% of proceeds shared with artists and 50% to support Woodland Cultural Centre programs, specifically School Visits & Educational Programming and Exhibitions.

My name is Taalrumiq, I am Inuvialuk from Tuktuuyaqtuuq, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NWT, now living in Lheidli T’enneh territory. The skills and talent I inherited from my matrilineal line of expert Inuit Seamstresses combined with a modern education allow a unique opportunity for me to create, teach and share Inuvialuit culture with the world by storytelling and cultural preservation through art. At the same time reclaiming loss of culture, pride in Inuit identity, and healing of intergenerational trauma. Working with traditional Inuvialuit design elements, using traditional organic and modern materials I create contemporary Inuit adornment and original Inuit fine art.

“I had a change in my creative process in that I saw a better vision and way to tell the story I want to tell in regard to Residential schools and am making the mask of sealskin in various greys and red, rather than including the blue & moosehide that I originally planned.”