The Dancing Bears of Inuit Art
Inuit art has been introduced to the non-Arctic world for
several decades now and has enjoyed a nice climb in stature as a
fine art form. Throughout the years, Inuit stone carvers have
changed their artwork a bit as a result of market feedback and
demand. Generally speaking, they managed to make artistic
changes in response to the market without losing the northern
Arctic spirit of their Inuit art form. Inuit art stone carvings
have become larger and more polished compared to those early
primitive looking carvings that made their debut in the
commercial art market years ago.
One of the later innovations in stone carvings from the Inuit
art world was the dancing bear. The Inuit carvers from Cape
Dorset in Nunavut sometimes added humor and play into their
artwork. They gave animals such as polar bears some human like
characteristics. Instead of carving polar bears only in walking
positions or other poses often seen in the natural wild, the
carvers began to make the bears in upright positions standing on
one hind leg. This pose represented the polar bear in a happy
state of dancing and celebration. Some carvers claim that
dancing bears represent a form of shamanism and transformation
between a human and a bear. But the market generally sees these
carvings as happy bears.
The dancing bear carving elevated the skill requirement of the
Inuit carver because the entire stone carving had to be balanced
on one leg of the bear without toppling over. This balancing act
in carving was not a project for the beginning carver. Because
of the skill level required to carve a dancing bear, the price
of such an Inuit carving would generally be a bit higher
compared to a comparable walking bear. The Inuit art market has
accepted this fact and collectors are willing to pay more for
nice dancing bear carvings as evidenced by their popularity.
Other Nunavut communities such as Iqaluit also have carvers who
produce excellent dancing bear carvings now. Some carvers have
demonstrated such wild imaginations by adding drums made of
caribou antler to bear carvings resulting in drum dancing bears.
Talk about giving a wild animal a human characteristic! Others
have turned other Arctic animals such as walruses and seals as
well as objects such as the Inuit inukshuk into balancing
dancing versions. A few carvers have produced dancing bears
which have the ability to balance on either the right or left
hind leg. In an effort to elevate the skill levels and artistry
even further, polar bears have been carved in handstanding
positions balancing on both or even one front paw. Sometimes
these are known as diving bears.
Interestingly enough, the Inuit carvers in some regions such as
Nunavik (northern Quebec Arctic) and the western Arctic have not
added dancing bears to their subjects portfolios. They have
chosen to focus and excel on other aspects of Inuit art such as
hunting scenes involving human subjects or miniature Inuit camps
using ivory. The dancing bear carvings are generally produced in
the central Nunavut region but it will be interesting to see if
other Arctic regions will produce their own versions of
balancing carvings as a result of market demand.