To inaugurate UMMA’s new Power Family Program for Inuit Art, the Museum presents a special exhibition connecting two fascinating stories. One story traces the development of contemporary Inuit art in the Canadian Arctic from the 1950s to the present.

The other relates the Power family’s seminal role in supporting and promoting Inuit art and introducing it to U.S. audiences. Seventy years ago, neither the Inuit nor the Power family could have anticipated the tremendous outpouring of art that ensued, or the international acclaim contemporary Canadian Inuit art enjoys today. The exhibition, Tillirnanngittuq (Inuktitut word meaning “unexpected”), celebrates the creativity of the Inuit, as producers of these cultural treasures.

Additionally, Tillirnanngittuq signals the beginning of a third story, a promising new narrative to unfold through groundbreaking research, educational programs, and exhibitions on Inuit art and culture at the University of Michigan in coming years.