Marc Alikaswa

(1928 – 2008)

The late Marc Alikaswa was a celebrated carver who had exhibited his work both domestically and internationally since 1971. Born near the northern Manitoba border to the well-known shaman Idjuadjuk, Marc spent most of his life in Arviat, Nunavut, although he lived temporarily in Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove. Marc began carving in his late thirties, and he quickly developed a reputation for his abstract figural sculptures. Marc’s work was first featured in the 1971 exhibition, “The Art of the Eskimo,” held at the Simon Fraser Gallery in Burnaby, BC and his carvings have since been included in a number of public collections, including the Sarick Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. Marc’s artistic legacy continues through his daughter, Mary Ann Alikaswa, one of seven children and a weaver based in Arviat.