University of Manitoba - School of Art - Erkoolik and Tiktak
Erkoolik and Tiktak

October 1966

This exhibition was the first in a series of two and three-man shows of work by contemporary Eskimo artists organized for Gallery III by George Swinton, who intended the show to be a contribution to Canada's centennial celebrations. It featured 16 soapstone carvings of birds, humans and a resting animal by Erkoolik (also known as Tuna Ikuliq) of Baker Lake, N.W.T.  Artist John Tiktak of Rankin Inlet was represented by 13 sculptures of heads and mother-and-child figures. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, George Swinton felt these works "stood up to some of the things in the John A. MacAulay collection" which was running simultaneously in the gallery. (October 29, 1966)