Anirnik Oshuitoq

Anirnik Oshuitoq (1902-1983) was an Inuit graphic artist who participated in the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collections from 1961-1974. She spent her early years following a traditional, nomadic way of life before giving birth to her daughter, the artist Ningeeuga Oshuitoq, at the age of 16.

Oshuitoq settled in Cape Dorset in the early 1960s with her family, and developed her visual art practice in drawing and printmaking. Her work is characterized by its unusual blend of subject matter, which includes both Inuit spirituality and images from settler culture.

Oshitoq was a regular participant in the Cape Dorset Graphics exhibitions in the 1960s and early 1970s. Her work was featured in the major survey exhibitions Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983-1985) and Inuit Modern (Art Gallery of Ontario, 2011). Her prints are in several major public collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Canadian Museum of History, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery of Canada.