The Inuit Gallery presents qajaqs by Maligiaq Padilla. Constructed in cedar and fir and lashed together with synthetic sinew, they are sleek, elegant works of art.  The gallery is displaying a full size racing qajaq (approx. 20 ft.) hanging from the ceiling.  It is constructed from beautiful red cedar with Alaskan yellow cedar ribs. The gallery also presents a limited number of model Qajaqs, each measuring approx. 6 ft. in length, valued at $2,000 CAD.  Each one is signed by the artist and could also be ordered with a sturdy manmade skin that would render it seaworthy.  The artist uses a ballistic nylon skin with a varathane finish.  It’s lightweight, more flexible than fiberglass, and waterproof. 

Sleek and elegant in appearance, these qajaqs are a desired piece of sculptural artwork in there own right.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Maligiaq Padilla, whose name in Greenlandic means "following waves growing up” prefectly compliments him. In 1994, at the age of 12, Maligiaq entered the Greenland National Qajaq Championships, winning all four events.  The same year he built his first qajaq with his grandfather. Maligiaq is the only person in history to win four Greenland National Kayaking Championships, winning his first title at 16.

He has recently turned his many years of qajaqing and the building skills that he learned from his grandfather, towards art in the form of scale model qajaqs and also recreating a 400 year old qajaq from recently discovered remnants. He has recreated this artifact back into it’s original form in full sized dimensions for 2 museums in Greenland  In 2005 he was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute Museum to build a Qajaq of his design during the Arctic Peoples Celebration in Washington DC, the Qajaq is part of the Smithsonian collection.
 
Many more accomplishments athletically and in Qajaq art are sure to come from Maligaq, but his recent creations of Qajaq history and art are available today at the Inuit Gallery.