The Artistic Legacy of James Houston
The history of Inuit printmaking is shaped by moments of exchange, discovery, and lasting relationships that transformed local artistic practices into an internationally recognized movement.
James Houston first travelled to the remote community of Cape Dorset in 1949 in pursuit of his own art. There, he quickly recognized an undiscovered mine of artistic talent among the people of the region and introduced them to art techniques such as print-making. He went on to become the driving force behind a multimillion-dollar art industry, bringing radical change to the Arctic and its inhabitants and profoundly changing his own life.
In this 1987 profile by CBC Television’s The Fifth Estate, Houston also meets with his old friend Kenojuak, now a renowned print-maker.