Ekootak, Victorhttp://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Holman/english/artists/index.php3#top1916-1965Victor Ekootak was a founding member of the Holman Co-operative and one of the first artists to make drawings and prints in the early 1960s. He was known for his drawing skills and he created a series of drawings for the Catholic mission on linoleum depicting the events of the crucifixion of Christ. The series still hangs on the walls of the chapel/museum in Holman. The 1965 and 1966 annual collections include twelve of Ekootak's prints. Four of his drawings were printed in later years. He was a skilled carver and turned those skills to making stonecuts in 1964. His sudden death in 1965 came as a blow to Father Tardy and the other pioneer printmakers. Tardy later wrote: "With Ekootak's death, we lost the leader of our Art craftsmen." (Inuktitut, 1979)Ekootak was born in the Prince Albert Sound area and married Nereonak, who became well known for her sealskin tapestries. They spent much of their time in the Read Island area, south of Wollaston Peninsula. When Ekootak began working for the Co-op in 1961, he travelled to Holman from Read Island. The family moved into the community on the HBC boat when the Read Island post was relocated to Holman in 1962.Ekootak is the patriarch of an artistic family. His son-in-law, Patrick Akovak Klengenberg (1944-1976), is a sculptor, artist and printmaker; and his daughter, Elsie Klengenberg, is one of the leading stencil artists in Holman. Ekootak's grandchildren, Helen and Stanley Klengenberg (1964-1999), are known for their prints and drawings.From an interview with Ekootak's daughter, Elsie Klengenberg, by Darlene Coward Wight, Holman, May 9, 2000

Exhibitions

• 4th National Burnaby Print Show, Burnaby Art Society
• Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum
• Arctic Values '65, New Brunswick Museum with the cooperation of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs
• Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray, Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State University
• Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival, Alaska Methodist University Galleries
• Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/ Giuochi Eschimesi: grafiche e sculture, National Gallery of Modern Art
• Eskimo Sculpture, Eskimo Prints and Paintings of Norval Morrisseau, Art Association of Newport
• Graphic Art by Eskimos of Canada: Second Collection, Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Canada
• Holman Prints *65, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *66, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *69, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *77, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *84, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *85, (annual collection)
• The Beat of the Drum, The Arctic Circle
• The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto-Dominion Bank
• The Holman Print Retrospective 1965-1988, Albers Gallery
• The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the National Museum of Man
• The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario, University of Guelph
• The Prints Never Seen: Holman, 1977-1987, Albers Gallery of Inuit Art
• The Story Tellers of Holman Island: A retrospective exhibition of rare stonecut prints from 1968 - 1979, The Arctic Circle

Collections

• Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth
• Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Glenbow Museum, Calgary
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• New Brunswick Museum, Saint John
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection, Toronto
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg