Woven art got its start in Pangnirtung in 1970, when the community was provided with a loom through a federal government program that encouraged the development of arts and crafts initiatives as a means of creating an economic base for Inuit settlements. Many women in Pangnirtung were skilled in knitting and sewing and quickly mastered weaving techniques, using their new skill to create exquisite works that reflected Inuit life and memories.

In 2002, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Que., featured the tapestries of Pangnirtung in the exhibit Nuvisavik: The Place Where We Weave. Some 120,000 people saw the exhibit during its 18-month run at the museum (Nuvisavik is currently on a tour of Canada, which is taking it to Saint John, Montreal, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Ont., Winnipeg, and Kamloops, B.C.). "The Pangnirtung tapestries use the woven surface like a canvas to tell a story," says Maria von Finckenstein, curator of the exhibit, in her essay entitled ...but I always think about the old days. "It is the narrative aspect and the way the interpretations have evolved over the last 30 years that fascinate visitors."

During the last three decades, the style of the tapestries has become more and more complex as the weavers developed their techniques and artistic understanding. "The early strong images against a neutral background could be considered akin to posters," writes von Finckenstein. "In the eighties we have more graphic images, with the contours of the narrative scenes being set off against a clearly defined background, similar to prints. Finally, in the nineties, figure and background blend as they would in an oil painting."

The creation of a tapestry begins with a drawing or painting. Once a year, the weavers select drawings or watercolours from the centre's archives to be interpreted in woven form. They generally produce a cartoon of the artwork to serve as a pattern, which is then interpreted using a wool weft and a cotton warp. Each tapestry, therefore, has two artists – the "drawing" artist and the tapestry artist. "Tapestries are generally produced in editions of 10, with individual tapestries in the edition numbered one through 10," says Deborah Hickman, a tapestry artist from Mahone Bay, N.S., who is an artistic adviser to the Uqqurmiut weavers. "An edition can take years to complete."

Hickman, who travels to Pangnirtung whenever a new collection is being created, explains that one of the greatest challenges the weavers face is reproducing the various colours and shades of the original artwork. "The subtle variations in tapestry colours are achieved by blending different colours of single-ply yarn," she says. This technique, similar to mixing paints, makes it possible to "paint" with wool.

Attention to detail is a hallmark of the Pangnirtung tapestries. The warp ends on the top and bottom, for example, are woven back to finish the edges and a linen sleeve is applied to the back of the tapestry. Information about the tapestry is written directly onto the sleeve in English and Inuktitut – the names of both the drawing artist and the tapestry artist are given.

GEELA KEENAINAK, a senior weaver at the Uqqurmiut Centre, was born at Qipisaa camp on Baffin Island in 1943 and moved to Pangnirtung when she was 22. A skilled seamstress, Keenainak started weaving in 1982. Over the years, she embarked on ever more ambitious projects and now produces stunning tapestries of northern images and landscapes. Her version of Coming Up for Air is one of the 49 Pangnirtung tapestries featured in the Museum of Civilization's Nuvisavik exhibit. "I really liked the image from the beginning," says Keenainak through an Inuktitut interpreter. Creating a tapestry, she explains, is a collaborative effort, with all the weavers at the centre providing suggestions on colours and technique.

The Great Hall of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly in Iqaluit is home to a mammoth Pangnirtung tapestry. Nearly seven metres long and three metres wide, the spectacular work depicts an Inukshuk, hunters, caribou and birds flying against a purple-pink sky. The piece is based on Back Then, a watercolour by Joel Maniapik, an artist who was born and raised in Pangnirtung and is now a coordinator of community programs at Iqaluit's Arctic College. "I enjoy seeing my drawings and paintings woven into tapestries," says Maniapik. "They take on a new and different presence." The tapestry, which took seven weavers seven months to create, was a gift from the Uqqurmiut Centre to the Legislative Assembly and is one of the largest tapestries ever woven in Canada.

The work has played a significant role in heightening the profile of the Uqqurmiut Centre. "Even southern communities were aware that we were working on this monumental piece, which speaks of land and harkens back to an earlier time," says the centre's general manager, Peter Wilson, whose interest in Inuit art coupled with a background in graphic design and small business mangement has helped him raise the profile of the Uqqurmiut Centre. "Ultimately, the centre is the chief vehicle through which the people of Pangnirtung carry out their mission to promote and preserve their local culture and to foster their artistic heritage."

ANNA ETOANGAT WAS 19 when her family moved from Qimmisuuq camp to Pangnirtung in 1966, after her father contracted tuberculosis and needed treatment at the community's health centre. Etoangat has been weaving at the Uqqurmiut studio since 1985 and believes her work and that of her fellow tapestry artists is not only personally fulfilling but historically significant. "Through the stories and pictures we weave, we help to keep our culture strong," she says. "Through weaving the drawings of Elders, I began to pay more attention to the history of my people. It is important that the younger generation see the old ways of life depicted in the tapestries. I hope that weaving in Pangnirtung never stops."