The Museum of Inuit Art Announces a New Curatorial Appointment

Effective September 1, 2008, the Museum of Inuit Art announces the appointment of Ingo Hessel as Curator.

“Ingo was the Museum’s enthusiastic choice as permanent curator,” said MIA Director David Harris. “He comes with a wealth of curatorial experience as well as a passion for MIA’s mission.  Ingo’s ability to communicate that passion to diverse audiences makes him a great asset for us.”  The curator oversees all aspects of the museum’s exhibition and art acquisition programs.

Ingo Hessel

My involvement with Inuit (Canadian Eskimo) art is now over twenty years old. In 1983, inspired by the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition Grasp Tight the Old Ways, I began studying Inuit art at Carleton University in Ottawa. That same year I started working at the Inuit Art Section in the Canadian government’s Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, first as a volunteer researcher, and finally as Special Projects Officer and Coordinator. Some of the projects I have been involved in include: authoring Canadian Inuit Sculpture, an educational booklet translated into eight languages; curating several exhibitions, such as Arviat Stone Sculpture and Stories in Stone; producing the video Keeping Our Stories Alive: the Sculpture of Canada’s Inuit; teaching courses in Inuit art at the University of Ottawa; and working with Inuit artists, co-operatives, wholesalers, museums and galleries, retail galleries, researchers, magazine and book publishers and others to advance the study and appreciation of one of Canada’s premiere art forms. Over the years I have visited the Canadian Arctic close to twenty times, travelling most often to the Keewatin region, an area of special interest to me.