• Choice

Crowd Around Ruth Annaqtuusi Tulurialik’s “People and Animals on Kayak”

The Life Aquatic

Aug 31, 2020
by Emily Henderson

If two is company but three’s a crowd, how about three Inuit and six animals sharing space on just one kayak? Ruth Annaqtuusi Tulurialik’s lively and aptly titled People and Animals on Kayak depicts an overloaded vessel that refuses to buckle under the strain of its boatload of passengers while a tense scene unfolds in the background. At first glance, what appears to be a hunting scene reveals instead a defensive situation as a hunter raises his spear while standing between a wolf and his family. Beyond him, a figure flees towards the water. One cannot help but wonder, then, if everyone is piled onto a single kayak for more practical reasons—to escape the danger on the shore. 

— Emily Henderson, Profiles Editor 









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