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The Inuit, or Eskimos, are a circumpolar union of indigenous groups who live in Siberia, Alaska, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic. Each group has a rich artistic heritage of its own while sharing many cultural traits across the Arctic. Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum offers a rare opportunity to view the artwork, decorated pieces, and functional items of a people tied together by aesthetic continuity and awareness.

Arctic Spirit represents one of the first efforts to pull together works from the diverse areas of the circumpolar region. The objects in the exhibition span 2,250 years of artistic creativity, from 250 B.C. to the 21st century. Popular subjects in Inuit art traditionally are family scenes, animals, legends, and the Inuit relationship with the Arctic environment. The exhibition includes wall hangings, prints, drawings, sculptures, carved ivories, and decorated clothing. Maps, text panels, and photographs of the land and artists provide contextual information for the objects.

Curator Ingo Hessel lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and has researched Inuit art extensively for over 20 years. He worked for 15 years at the Canadian government’s Inuit Art Information Centre as a researcher, special projects officer, curator, and coordinator. He has taught courses in Inuit art at the University of Ottawa and has written extensively, including Inuit Art: An Introduction. He is also a stone sculptor, painter, and printmaker, and he has lived and exhibited in Japan and Canada. Dr. E. Daniel and Martha L. Albrecht have collected Native American art for nearly 50 years. They are donating their collection of over 3,500 works and 1,500 books to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, making it one of the most comprehensive collections of Northern Native art in the United States.