Born: February 28, 1941 Female
Place of Birth: Princess Mary Lake (Kazan River area)
Resides: Baker Lake
Drawings, Prints, Printmaking, Wallhangings, Sculpture

Irene's husband, David Tiktaalaaq, is a carver and printmaker. Her brother, William Ukpatiku, is also a carver and printmaker, as well as a crafts artist.

Bayat Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada

1973 September: Stones and Bones of Baffin Island, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

1974: Crafts from Arctic Canada/Artisanat de l'arctique canadien, Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1974 March: Baker Lake Sculpture, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario (illustrated catalogue)

March - April 1974 Eskimo Wallhangings, McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario (brochure)

1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 Baker Lake Print Collection (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)

1976 June: Baker Lake Wallhangings 1976, The Guild Shop, Toronto, Ontario

1977 January - June: The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the National Museum of Man Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1978 September: Baker Lake Wallhangings 1978, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario

1978 September - October: Baker Lake Wallhangings 1978, Gallery One, Toronto, Ontario

1979 January - June: Spirits and Dreams - Arts of the Inuit of Baker Lake, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated brochure)

1979 March: Baker Lake Wallhangings 1979, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

1979 July - 1980 May: Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1979 - 81 July: Keewatin Wallhangings 1979-1981, Canadian Arctic Producers Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario (tour)

1979 November - December: In Celebration, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec

1979 December: Baker Lake Arts - Prints, Sculpture, Wallhangings, Playhouse Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.

1980 January - February: Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia

1980 April - May: Baker Lake - Drawings, Sculpture, Tapestries, Theo Waddington, Toronto, Ontario

1980 June - July: Wallhangings, Theo Waddington, New York, New York, U.S.A.

1980 November: Baker Lake Prints - Ten Year Retrospective, The Upstairs Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1981 June: Transformation, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure)

1981 October: Inuit Masks, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

1982 June - October: Inuit Art from the Art Centre Collection, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario

1982 September - October: Keewatin Wallhangings 1982, Windsong Galleries, Mississauga, Ontario

1983: Hunter of the Sacred Game: Traditional Life on the Land, Organized by the Arts and Learning Services Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. (tour)

1983 February - March: Return of the Birds, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

1983 February - April: Baker Lake Prints & Print-Drawings: 1970-1976, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1983 May - 1985 April: Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1983 October - November: The Arctic/L'Artique, UNESCO, Paris, France (illustrated catalogue)

1984 February - 1986 June: Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers, Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1984 March - April: Heritage of the Inuit: Masterpieces of the Eskimo, Colorado Galleries of the Arts, Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, Colorado, U.S.A.

1984 November - December: 50 Inuit Prints, Canadian Arctic Producers in coordination with the Hudson's Bay Company Inuit Art Marketing Service, held at Simpson's, Toronto, Ontario (illustrated brochure)

1987 February - June: The Lindsay and Swartz Collections: New Acquisitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery Winnipeg, Manitoba

1987 December - 1988 February: Inuk, Inuit: Art et tradition chez les esquimaux d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, presented by L'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Musee des Beaux-arts d'Arras, Arras, France (illustrated catalogue)

1987 December - 1989 March Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1988 April: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de L'Europe, Le Touquet, France

1988 June - September: The World Around Me, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta

1988 July: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France

1988 November: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Les Martres-de-Veyre, France

1988 December: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie des Tanneurs, Mulhouse, France

1988 - 89 December: Im Schatten der Sonne:Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada/In the Shadow of the Sun:Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1989 February - March: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at St. Marcellin, France

1989 March - April: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Autre Regard, Paris, France

19889 March - April: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de l'Europe, le Touquet, France

1989 April: Collecting Inuit Art - Shifting Perceptions, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario (illustrated catalogue)

1989 June - July: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Sanguine, La Rochelle, France

1989 August: Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France

1989 August - September: Baker Lake Prints: 1970 - 1982 Retrospective, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

1989 August - October: Inuit Graphic Art from Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1989 October: Baker Lake Print Retrospective: A Twenty Year Anniversary, The Upstairs Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1989 December: Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Les Chiroux, Centre Culturel de la Wallonie, Liege, Belgium

1990 January: Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Centre d'Action Culturelle du Bassin, Houllier, Lorrain, Saint Avold, France

1990 January - September: Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec

1990 February - March: Beeldhouwkunst van de Inuit (Canada), by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, France, at Amphora Finippon pvba, Sint Andries, Brugge, Belgium

1990 March: Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Maison Falleur, Cambrai, France

1990 October - November: A Woman's Vision, Art Space Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

1990 November: Baker Lake Wallhangings, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario

1990 November - December: Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape, Dorset 1990, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France

1991 January: Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada at Bunkamura Art Gallery, presented by the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology and The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Tokyo, Japan (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1991 February - March: Inuit Drawings, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

1991 February - April: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Humbert, Nantes, France

1991 March - April: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Le Theatre, La Ciotat, France

1991 April - June: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L'Isle sur la Sorgue, France

1991 May - June: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at La Halle aux Bles, Saint Malo, France

1991 June - July: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Ombre et Lumiere, Ensisheim, France

1991 July: The Great Northern Arts Festival, held in Inuvik, Northwest Territories

1991 August - September: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Akenaton, Troyes, France

1991 October - December; Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Maite Aubert, Le Havre, France

1991 November - December: Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Le Colombier, Ville D'Avray, France

1991 November - 1992 March: Moving Around the Form: Inuit Sculpture and Prints, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario

1992 February - April: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Montador, Dieppe, France

1992 June - July: Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic
Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

1992 June - October: Nouveau Territoires...350/500 Ans Après, Presented at les maisons de la culture Cote-des-Neiges, Notre-Dame-de-Grace, and Rosemont-Petite Patrie, Montreal Recreation and Community Development Service and les Ateliers, Visions Planetaire, Montreal, Quebec (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1992 November - 1993 January: Borealis: Inuit Images of Man and Animals, Freeport Art Museum and Cultural Centre, Freeport, Illinois

1993 March - April: The Theme of Transformation in Inuit Sculpture, The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery, Toronto

1993 April - July: Multiple Realities: Inuit Images of Shamanic Transformation, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated brochure)

1993 November: Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from the Canadian Arctic, Baltimore Museum of Art Baltimore (tour)

1993 November - December: Women Who Draw: 30 Years of Graphic, Art from the Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario

1993 November - 1994 January: Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue)

1994 March: Patiently I Sing Selections from the Tyler/Brooks Collection, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario (illustrated catalogue)

1994 March - August: Kunst aus der Arktis, Völkerkundmuseum der Universität Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland (illustrated catalogue)

1994 August - October: Inuit Art from the Canadian Arctic, Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.

1994 September - October: Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's, Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum, Huis Hellemans, Edegem, Belgium (illustrated brochure)

1973 October: Wallhangings: Embroidered and Appliqued:by Ahvalakiak of Baker Lake, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario

1993 January: Wallhangings by Irene Avaalaaqiaq, Isaacs/Innuit Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan, U.S.A.
CIBC Collection, Toronto, Ontario
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec
Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, Michigan, U.S.A.
John and Mary Robertson Collection, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1973 Received a Canada Council travel grant to attend the opening of her first solo exhibition at the Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art in Toronto.

1976 Commissioned by Public Works Canada to create two wallhangings for post offices in Ilderton and Wyoming, Ontario.

1979 A wallhanging by Avaalaaqiaq was presented to the State of Minnesota by the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S.A. and now hangs in the State Legislature in Minneapolis.

1980 Travelled to Winnipeg to attend the official opening of the 1980 Baker Lake print collection.

1988 Attended the gala opening of the new National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

1993 Tied for third prize in the wall hanging competition at the Keewatin Arts and Crafts Festival.

1993 Attended the opening of the Northern Lights exhibit in Baltimore, where she spoke about her life and work as well as demonstrating embroidery and applique techniques.

Blodgett, Jean: GRASP TIGHT THE OLD WAYS: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983.

Brown, Deborah, and Mary Jo Hughes Genosko: COLLECTING INUIT ART -- SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS: By Deborah Brown and Mary Jo Hughes Genosko. Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1989.

Butler, Sheila: WALL HANGINGS FROM BAKER LAKE. The Beaver, Autumn, 1972. pp.26-31.

Canadian Arctic Producers: EXHIBITION OF WALL HANGINGS BY AHVALAKIAK OF BAKER LAKE. CAP Newsletter, September 1973. p.3.

Canadian Arctic Producers: KEEWATIN WALLHANGINGS. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers, 1979.

Hassler, Gitta: KUNST AUS DER ARKTIS: GRAPHIKEN DER INUIT IN KANADA. Zurich: Völkerkundmuseum der Universität Zürich, 1994.

Jackson, Marion E.: CONTEMPORARY INUIT DRAWINGS. Guelph, Ontario: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 1987.

Mills, James: TWO ESKIMO ART EXHIBITS A RARE OCCURRENCE. Denver Post, February 8, 1976.

Muehlen, Maria: BAKER LAKE WALL-HANGINGS: Starting from Scraps. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 2, Spring, 1989. pp.6-11.

Muehlen, Maria: SOME RECENT WORK BY WOMEN OF BAKER LAKE. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 7, no.3, Summer/Fall, 1992, pp. 30-35.

Muscarelle Museum of Art (Williamsburg): CONTEMPORARY INUIT DRAWINGS: The gift collection of Frederick and Lucy S. Herman. Williamsburg, Va.: The College of William and Mary in Virginia, 1993.

Musee des Beaux-Arts (Arras, France): INUK, INUIT: Art et tradition chez les Esquimaux d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. Arras, France: Musee des Beaux-Arts, 1987.

National Museum of Man: THE INUIT PRINT = L'ESTAMPE INUIT: A Travelling Exhibition... = Une exposition itinerante... Ottawa: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, 1977.

Vision Planetaire: NOUVEAUX TERRITOIRES: 350/500 ANS APRES: Une exposition d'art aborigene contemporain du Canada. Montreal: Vision Planetaire: Ville de Montreal: UNESCO, 1992.

Whitton, Elizabeth: THE BAKER LAKE ESKIMO AND THEIR NEEDLECRAFT. [Manuscript, c.1972].