2026 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection

Image Artwork: Shimmering Loons, Quvianaqtuk Pudlat, 2026, stonecut & stencil, edition /50 

The official release date for sale is Saturday October 17, 2026. To inquire and reserve a print, contact 416.921.1721 or shop@craftontario.com

VIEW THE 2026 PRINT COLLECTION

This year's collection is an expansive view of Inuit life in the North. Want to view the prints in person? From September 30 - October 10, Craft Ontario will be displaying the collection in our gallery, located at 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto. We invite you to visit and experience the collection in its entirety. Find more information on the Preview Exhibition below.

As one of the first establishments to represent Inuit and First Nations art in Toronto, the Craft Ontario Shop is proud to continue to support the rich history and culture of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. To see the collection evolve, share new perspectives, host artists new and old; it is such a pleasure to showcase this collection year after year. We want to thank our dedicated and supportive community for celebrating this wonderful collection with us.

The Craft Ontario Shop will have two complete sets of the 2026 Cape Dorset Print Collection, edition numbers 10 and 30, as well as one complete set of the accompanying collection My Squiggly Friends (pictured below), a colourful folio by acclaimed Kinngait artist, Shuvinai Ashoona, edition number 12.

2026 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection Preview Exhibition

September 30 - October 10, 2026

Note: The gallery will be open on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30. We invite visitors on this day especially to learn of, and appreciate Inuit ways of life and culture.

Craft Ontario Gallery, 401 Richmond St West, Suite 108, Toronto

Foreword excerpt from the 2026 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection Catalogue, by Dr. Isabelle Gapp, Co-Director, The Centre for the North, University of Aberdeen, "

Snow buntings are nesting in the rocks below Kinngait Studios and singing their warning tune as people venture nearby. Ravens and gulls are sharing an electricity pole outside the breakroom window, competing for attention. The birds’ eye is all-seeing and reappears throughout this year’s collection. 

It stares out from the centre of Upikjuaq Ijilu (Owl and Eye), suspended between the wingtips of a snowy owl, with legs spread and kamiks firmly planted on the ground. Snowy owls are not as common in Kinngait nowadays, but they remain an inspiration. This pocket-sized linocut was made by Laina Geetah, marking her first introduction to the print collection both as an artist and a printmaker. 

Golden-yellow eyes stare out of the black, silhouetted forms of two owls in Ijingi Qaymajuuk (Bright Eyes), a hand-coloured stonecut drawn by Laina and printed by Qavavau Manumie. Earlier this year, Laina started working with stonecut under Qavavau’s guidance: “It opened my eyes to a new level of what I have to put in that paper for it to get printed.” 

The owl is diving, wings tucked in close, as it plummets towards its prey in Ashley Qavavau’s Focus; the snowy owl is a top predator. In Kanarvalik Niviaqsi’s Taking Flight, the owl is distracted, looking out at us instead. Loons shimmer on the horizon before a setting sun in Quvianaqtuk Pudlat’s stonecut and stencil. Love Doves share a kiss in Saimaiyu Akesuk’s lithograph, while the tendril-like feathers, alternating in shades of green, spiral out from the elongated form of an owl in Ooloosie Saila’s Spiritual Owl. Saimaiyu’s Plump Owls are weighted down to the ground; these birds aren’t taking flight anytime soon. 

In Ningiukulu Teevee’s Guardian, a polar bear has scooped up an owl in its front paw. This is a “sassy owl,” says Ning. It was making jokes and throwing insults at the polar bear, who has now enacted its revenge.

Amid the sunset landscapes of Nicotye Samayualie and Padloo Samayualie (both printed by Niveaksie Quvianaqtuliaq), and turbulent waters in Ooloosie’s Ingirariniq (Strong Currents), polar bears swim through Arctic seas, cross the tundra, and navigate the sea ice.

A bear drifts through celestial water in Quvianaqtuk Pudlat’s Plunging Bear (left). Here, the passing of artist and prominent Elder Ohito Ashoona is felt. The latter was known for his carvings of bears, and his first print Prowling Bear appeared in the 2019 collection. “My favourite is the polar bear, with a mother and cub. The mother laying down and the little baby on the back,” he said when we spoke last year. Days after Ohito’s funeral, two polar bears crossed the broken ice in Tellik Inlet and feasted on the remains of a beluga caught the night before, fending off the ravens and gulls as they ate. 

As this year’s collection is published, millions of migratory birds will be taking to the skies, their journey southwards beginning once again. Meanwhile, we can live vicariously through the lives and stories of birds, bears, and all manner of other creatures that this collection tells. 

We invite you to view the 2026 Print Collection at the Craft Ontario Gallery at 401 Richmond Street West between September 30 - October 10. The official release date for sale is Saturday October 17, 2026. 

To inquire and reserve a print, contact 416.921.1721 or shop@craftontario.com

View the full collection by clicking here!

Taking Flight,  Kanarvalil Niviaqsi, 2026, Lithograph & Hand Colouring, Printer: Nujalia Quvianaqtuliaq