The Rooms receives historic donation of Inuit art from printmaker William Ritchie

It's one of the largest and most significant donations The Rooms has ever received: nearly 400 prints by dozens of Inuit artists,capturing a unique and vital period in Canadian art history.

The collection is being handed over to The Rooms by artist and master printmaker William Ritchie. Ritchie is a celebrated visual artist in his own right, but these works are drawnfrom his 30-year career as a printmaker at the historic Kinngait Studios in Kinngait, Nunavut, formerly known as Cape Dorset.

There, Ritchie worked withInuit artists who would become major names in the art world, includingAnnie Pootoogook, Tim Pitsouliak, Pudlo Pudlat and Kenojuak Ashevak. But while their prints were flying off the walls at Toronto art galleries, Ritchie got to keep a copy of every print he worked on.

The result is a massive trove that captures a time when Inuit art was moving away from traditional representations of northern life, and beginning toreflectmodern social realities and outside influences. As studio manager and master printmaker, Ritchie encouraged this new generation of Inuit artists to follow their creative vision.

"I always said to people, draw what you know," said Ritchie. "Do what you know, do what's in your life, do what's in your mind, do what you're thinking about. There's no rules anymore."

To hear Ritchie's story and view this incredible collection, watch the video above.

And join us Thursdayat 7 p.m.NTon the CBC N.L. Facebook page for a live conversation from The Rooms. We're diving into the first exhibit drawn from William Ritchie's collection, calledHelping Hands: 30 Years at Kinngait Studios.The exhibitionis curated byNakasuq Alariaq, an Inuk-Finnish graduate student, educator, curator and writer from Kinngait. Alariaqwill joinMireille Eagan, curator of contemporary art at The Rooms, for a special look at the featured artworks and to answer questions from our audience.

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