Atanarjuat Masterworks Slideshow

A slideshow of the THREE EXTRAORDINARY SOAPSTONE SCULPTURES  based on the legend and film Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, by three Inuit master carvers, Zacharias Kunuk, James Ungalaq and Natar Ungalaq ---Award winning director, designer and star, of the internationally acclaimed Inuit film Atanarjuat The Fast Runner.---

FOR COLLECTOR AND EXHIBITOR QUERIES, PLEASE CONTACT
Igloolik Isuma Productions Inc .
5764 ave Monkland, suite 223,Montreal, QC Canada H4A 1E9
T 514 486 0707 F 514 486 9851 E isuma@isuma.ca
www.isuma.ca
www.atanarjuat.com

The Masterworks

Zacharias Kunuk recreated one of the film’s key scenes, where its hero Atanarjuat, and his rival Uqi, confront each other in a ritual headpunching contest to win the hand of the beautiful Atuat.
--Director, 'Atanarjuat The Fast Runner'.

James Ungalaq recreated one the film’s key emotions, when the lovers Atanarjuat and Atuat, finally reunited after betrayal, murder and rape had separated them, turn to face the wily temptress Puja, who had provoked the tragedy and tried to profit from it.
--Production Designer, 'Atanarjuat The Fast Runner'.

Natar Ungalaq recreated one of the film’s key themes, the eternal conflict between Good and Evil that informs all aspects of ancient Inuit culture, acted out through battles between good and bad shamans with supernatural powers.
--Lead Actor, Atanarjuat, 'Atanarjuat The Fast Runner'.

HEADPUNCHING UQI
ZACHARIAS KUNUK
IGLOOLIK, NUNAVUT (2001)
GREEN CAPE DORSET SOAPSTONE
111/2" HIGH X 10" WIDE X 9" DEEP

ATANARJUAT CONFRONTS UQI IN A RITUAL HEADPUNCHING DUEL FOR THE LOVELY ATUAT’S HAND IN MARRIAGE.

Zacharias Kunuk is the Director of Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, his first dramatic feature film. He is also president and co-founder of Igloolik Isuma Productions Inc., Canada’ s first Inuit-owned independent production company.
Zacharias Kunuk was born in a sod house on the arctic tundra in 1957, and was nine years old when his family gave up their nomadic lifestyle and settled in the new Baffin Island government town of Igloolik. In1981, already a famous carver, Kunuk sold three sculptures in Montreal and brought home the Arctic’s first video camera to a community that did not yet have television. As director in the Isuma production team, Kunuk’s credits include the short dramas Qaggiq (Gathering Place,1989), Nunaqpa (Going Inland,1991) Saputi (Fish Traps,1993) and Nunavut (Our Land,1995), and documentaries Nipi (Voice,1999) and Nanugiurutiga (My First Bear,2001), shown in festivals and museums in sixteen countries, with personal presentations at National Gallery of Canada, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and artist-in-residencies at several Canadian universities.

LOVE AND HATE
JAMES UNGALAQ
IGLOOLIK, NUNAVUT (2001)
GREEN CAPE DORSET SOAPSTONE
61/2" HIGH X 121/2" WIDE X 51/2" DEEP

ATANARJUAT AND ATUAT REUNITED AFTER TRAGEDY, TURNING TO LOOK AT PUJA, WHO BETRAYED THEM.

James Ungalaq was born at Amittuq, about 50 miles south of Igloolik in 1964, and began carving around 1988. He prefers to carve in soapstone, and attended the Arctic College Intermediate Art Program in Holman, Cape Dorset, Lake Harbour and Iqaluit.
Recognized as a world class Inuit sculptor, Ungalaq’s work has been exhibited in the USA, France, Switzerland, Italy, and across Canada. As designer and art director of Atanarjuat, Ungalaq led a team of Igloolik artists to produce the stunning props and sets used in the film.

SHAMAN SPIRITS
NATAR UNGALAQ
IGLOOLIK, NUNAVUT (2001)
GREEN CAPE DORSET SOAPSTONE, MARBLE,
RAVEN CLAWS, WALRUS WHISKERS
15" HIGH X 14" WIDE X 9" DEEP

SUPERNATURAL SPIRITS OF WALRUS, POLAR BEAR AND A NAKED WOMAN IN THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.

Natar Ungalaq started carving when he was 9 or 10 years old. His sculptures have been exhibited across Canada and internationally in Germany, the United States, and Italy. His work is held in the collections of Canada’s major museums including the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Before playing the lead in Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, Ungalaq played major roles in other Canadian and American films, including Kabloonak, Glory and Honor and Frostfire.

Year of Production: 2009