Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the concern develops on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best places to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal tourist mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great alternative for buying Inuit art considering that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are likewise made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. http://journals.oregondigital.org/index.php/OURJ/user/viewPublicProfile/5504 Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or https://soundcloud.com/kurt-criter Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.