A stone sculpture of a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games.
A stone sculpture of a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games.
A stone sculpture of a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games.
A stone sculpture of a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games.
A stone sculpture of a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games.
A stone sculpture of a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games.

Ahqahizu

Artist(s)
Ruben Komangapik and Kommuatuk (Kuzy) Curley
Date
2016
Object Type
sculpture
Medium
granite
Dimensions
n/a
Accession
A2016.023
Tags

Ahqahizu is the first Indigenous addition to York University’s public art collection and is permanently displayed at the entrance to York Lions Stadium. Ahqahizu was completed in time to welcome athletes to the 2017 North American Indigenous Games. The sculpture illustrates a young Inuk soccer player performing an Alaskan high kick, the sport being an official Inuit sport of the Arctic Winter Games. Ahqahizu reflects the Inuit legend of the northern lights as souls who have passed, playing soccer in the sky.

Funded by a Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage Grant and York University in an effort to diversify York’s campus, Inuit artists Kuzy Curley and Ruben Komangapik led the production of Ahqahizu. Made from Stanstead granite, a stone particular to Quebec, Ahqahizu was created through a method of carving unique to Inuit culture. This method excludes calibration tools or guiding lines drawn onto the rock. Carving the 26-tonne chunk of granite required high skill and patience, taking over 200 days to sculpt.

The production of Ahqahizu was aided by a collaboration with the Jane and Finch York TD-Community Education Centre which enabled the artists to teach local high school students how to carve soapstone, connecting local youth to Inuit culture and creativity. Two of these students trained for and helped with the final production of Ahqahizu.