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
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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