After a holiday season disrupted the COVID-19 pandemic, Yellowknifers flocked to this weekendSA国际影视传媒檚 handmade holiday market in droves.
Shoppers were lined up all down the hall in front of the Explorer HotelSA国际影视传媒檚 Kitamavik Room to spend an hour perusing the stalls for local crafts, art, and other goods. The market was organized by the NWT Arts Program, which supports artists of all kinds throughout the territory, and the NWT Chamber of Commerce. It ran for two days, on Nov. 20 and 21.
Although the market was able to run this year, some protocols were still in place so that more than 25 shoppers could be present at once: Ticketed guests were only allowed one hour of shopping, and had to wear masks and show proof of vaccination at the door.
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Despite these measures, attendance was strong on the first day. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 fantastic,SA国际影视传媒� says Johanna Tiemessen, who manages NWT Arts. SA国际影视传媒淭his is the first year weSA国际影视传媒檝e done this. And we did it because a lot of other venues couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 hold events for artists due to capacity issues, or just venues not being able to check proof of vaccination.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淲e saw it as a gapSA国际影视传媒� we did this market this year to help artists with Christmas sales.SA国际影视传媒�
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Tiemessen says art has been in high demand this year: SA国际影视传媒淎rtists actually are quite busy this year. And they said that they were busy last year as well. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 what we heard. A lot of people are buying Northern and supporting Northern instead of traveling outside of the North and shopping outside of the North. So theySA国际影视传媒檙e seeing the value of shopping local and supporting local.SA国际影视传媒�
At a table near the entrance, Kathy Paul-Drover sold handmade crafts, including a belt made of seal seal skin and bison leather. SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 usually work with seal skin,SA国际影视传媒� she said. However, a workshop with DSA国际影视传媒橝rcy Moses, the renowned fashion designer, convinced her to take a chance.
She doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 hide her feelings about the results: SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 beautiful!SA国际影视传媒�
At the next table, Sue Glowach sold her own art, including a unique kind of painting that uses old maps as canvases. She says this medium allows her to recycle old materials, including many of the frames.
Other goods available at the nearly 30 stalls included Christmas ornaments, earrings, woodwork and smudging kits.
Rather than looking for anything in particular, most attendees said they were just happy to see some local art on display. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 just nice to see local artists being able to be out and display what theySA国际影视传媒檙e creating,SA国际影视传媒� said Shopper Hughie Graham.
SA国际影视传媒淚 enjoy window shopping for local art, so that when my time in Yellowknife is over, I can take a piece of the city with me,SA国际影视传媒� said another shopper, Karina Lee.
