Image: University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries
The University of Victoria’s Art Collection will present a major selection of Inuit works donated by retired surgeon Dr. Fred Wurlitzer in an exhibition opening in late November 2026. ‘Inuit Art Across Three Generations in the First Peoples House’ will be on view at the University of Victoria campus in Lekwungen territory through November 2027.
The 2025 donation includes works by Napachie Pootoogook, Cee Pootoogook, Pitseolak Ashoona and Shuvinai Ashoona. Spanning several generations of one Inuit family, the works enter the university collection as a group shaped by themes of Inuit life, knowledge, storytelling, identity, resilience and cultural continuity.
The exhibition will be held at the First Peoples House, a University of Victoria campus location. It is curated by artist Uumati Kisoun-Inuarak and draws from the Wurlitzer donation to focus on Inuit artists of Kinngait, also known as Cape Dorset, Nunavut. The presentation will include drawings, paintings, textiles and other works.
According to the exhibition description, the selection follows Inuit artistic practices across different eras and media. Figures, animals, spirits and details of everyday life record changes in the North from 1913 into the 2020s, while the range of materials emphasizes textiles as forms of visual expression rather than treating them simply as “arts and crafts.”
The exhibition’s structure places modern and contemporary works in relation to the continuity of Inuit artistic practice. The collection material is described as carrying distinct ideas, knowledge and ways of creating from the Arctic to the west coast, while also offering viewers an opportunity to consider the experiences and spirit conveyed through the works.
Women’s cultural and artistic leadership is a particular concern of the presentation. Its stated aim is to bring authentic representation to the exhibition and to honour the strength of women in Inuit culture, including those who have carried forward the work of earlier generations. The artists named in connection with the donation include Napachie Pootoogook, Cee Pootoogook, Pitseolak Ashoona and Shuvinai Ashoona, linking the collection’s holdings across generations.
The newsletter identifies the exhibition as one of the University of Victoria Art Collections’ upcoming campus and offsite projects. It lists the presentation dates as late November 2026 to November 2027 at the First Peoples House on the university campus.
