Helen Konek and the Arviat History Project: An Unexpected Encounter

8/3/2019 Helen Konek and the Arviat History Project: An Unexpected Encounter

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10 Fall | Winter 2011 - 2012

Hln Knkand th Aviat Histy Pjct:AN uNexPeCTeD eNCouNTer

BY JennY MCMaSter

8/3/2019 Helen Konek and the Arviat History Project: An Unexpected Encounter

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/helen-konek-and-the-arviat-history-project-an-unexpected-encounter 2/2

Studio 11

th atist. This is claly a dpictin taditinal Init li

m a mal pint viw. Th tasks wmn, sch as

child-aing, cking and spcially swing, a th cs

this imag. Th ct th clthing and th sams th tnt

a dpictd with paticla ca. Th labat dtail th

paka wman in th gnd idntiis this ig as a

vy accmplishd samstss. Th wman’s paka amatik,

iginally adnd with psnal amlts, was dcatd with

bightly cld sd bads; th ttal nmb bads in-

vlvd a tstamnt t th patinc th gamnt’s mak.As was cstmay, Knk land m ld mal la-

tivs hw t sw clthing whil still living na th Padli

tading pst in nthn Manitba. Whn th tading pst

was sht dwn in 1960, h amily was cd t lcat t

Aviat d t pblic pss and th sddn dclin th

caib hd. It was at this sttlmnt that sh ist bgan t

cat ttil wks lik wall-hangings. In sttlmnts wh

manactd hsing and clthing hav mad taditinal

wmn’s skills nncssay physical svival, swing has

bcm a mans cnmic sppt Init wmn and

thi amilis. Whil Init at wk is naly always pdcd

sthn bys, in th cas Knk’s camp scn, th

wk has npctdly svd t pass an accnt tad-itinal ways m gandpant t gandchildn, as wll as

a mind th impact thi wn cmmnity has had n

Canadian clt..Spcial thanks t Bth Gnhn, Apil Dthil, Chistin Lalnd, Candic

Hpkins and Hln Knk.

This pasT May, a gp Init m th Aviat Histy pjct

(Nanisiniq) visitd ottawa and its hitag instittins. Th aim

Nanisiniq (maning ‘jny discvy’) is t allw Init

yth t daw thi wn histy m ist hand scs,

as wll as t sha it with adincs in bth th Nth and

Sth. Pjct mmb Jdan Knk makd that “bing

cnntd with Qablnaat (sthns) at vy tn maks

knwing wh y a and wh y cm m vn m

imptant.” Th gp has spnt th last ya stdying a-

chival dcmnts and intviwing elds abt TB pidmics,

lcatins, pids stavatin and th vnts acting

Init in th 1950s and 60s. Th tam, mad p bth yth

and elds, has bn blgging thi pincs as wll as

wking n a dcmntay ilm. Th yth th pjct a

knly awa th imptanc nt nly listning t th

accnts thi elds bt als thi wn l in passing

dwn histical knwldg. “Sm day,” Amy owingayak

makd with a smil, “w will b th elds.”Th ist sit th gp visitd was th Libay and Achivs

Canada (LAC), wh thy paticipatd in “Pjct Naming”.

Th LAC hlds a cllctin thsands phtgaphs

Init dating m th lat 19th t mid-20th cnty, vy w

whm hav bn idntiid. Thanks t th Pjct Naming

initiativ, elds hav bn abl t idntiy thi amily and

llw cmmnity mmbs whil yth hav actd as tans-

lats hlpd t acilitat th pcss thgh th s

mdn tchnlgy.

Mst s cgniz th imptanc naming. Whn a

sbjct is namd, an thngaphic atiact bcms an imag

a paticla individal with a li histy. Fank Tst, a

pss scial wk at th univsity Bitish Clmbia

and acilitat Nanisiniq, insists that naming has a spcial

signiicanc in Init clt. Init childn a namd at

thi ancsts as thi spiits a thght t liv n thgh

thm. Ths, tiving an imag n’s ancst is lik tiv-

ing a pat n’s sl.

At visiting th LAC, th nt stp was th Natinal

Gally. Ding a bhind th scns t th valt, Jdan

and Ctis Knk w dlightd t cm acss a wall-

hanging by thi gandmth Hln Knk. Hln Knk is

als th csin Matha otkala, n th elds wh ist

cncivd th Aviat Histy pjct. In th sam vin as

“Pjct Naming,” an imag catd pimaily a sthn

adinc was cnttalizd whn cgnizd by mmbs

th nthn cmmnity m which it iginatd.Lik many wall-hangings m Aviat, this ntitld camp

scn by Hln Knk is a alistic dpictin vyday li.

Th atist has ptayd a camp in th smm thgh ap-

pliqd ms, dining dtails th inhabitants, qipmnt

and landscap with mbidy lss. Th vgn ts and

stams sitat this scn in th sthn actic.

Knk’s imagy, in cntast t that wall-hangings m

sttlmnts sch as Bak Lak, inclds n pint pspc-

tiv and natalistic vss schmatizd ms. Th wman

nting th scn m th bttm cld b intptd as

th ptagnist th naativ phaps a psntativ

LeFT: Hln Knk, Untitled (Camp Scene), b 1994. Flt, pintd cttn clth,

glass bads, cttn mbidy fss, cttn thad, animal skin, animal bn, and

plyst qilt batting. 124 cm 144 cm 5 cm. Git May Bwn, ottawa,

2009. Imag: Natinal Gally Canada (n. 42909.1-2).

Lt t ight: Jdan Knk, Matha otkala and Ctis Knk with Hln

Knk's wall-hanging. May 13, 2011, ottawa, Natinal Gally Canada.

Pht: Fank Tst

HeLeN KoNeK