Artist in Residence: the ice

The title of Artist in Residence in Qikiqtarjuaq was initiated by France Pinczon du Sel and is one of the projects supported by Vagabond. It was in this context that Christian Morel, a French photographer, came to the community for 16 days in March to create an artistic legacy.

The theme of the residency : the ice,  fascinating and fragile.
Scientists are the ones who most often speak about this subject.  The artist , like the scientist, needs space for reflection and experimentation and each has their own way of finding space for creativity.

The artistic project: an attempt by visual photography and collaborative creativity with the Inuit to capture out-of-sink situations focusing on the history of thousands of invisible and ephemeral passages on the ice, past, present and future, as moving territory, communal living area, source of food and personal stories, trying to “choreograph” serenity or uneasiness of individuals on the ice.

As a second component of the residency, the artist offered a workshop in his/her area of expertise to members of the community. Fifteen Inuit joined in the adventure and voluntarily agreed to  stage out-of-sink situations, also discovering what is meant by conceptual photos, and the technical challenge inherent in expressing strong ideas. Everybody had lots of fun and were left with great memories of the artist who gave each of them  a copy their photograph.

Christian will make part of his work available to the community in the form of a digital gallery on the new Qikiqtarjuaq website Qikiqtarjuaq (under construction). The caption of each photograph will contain the names of Inuit actors, proud to have participated in this work!

The visit of Christian Morel was a collaboration between Vagabond (accommodation, on-site logistics), and Frederik Paulsen (Air travel), with the participation of Green Edge (loan of a warm parka and boots!)