Boston Globe – Right from the start, Guillaume had big dreams for this circus – to travel the world and celebrate Inuit culture. Many of the performers had never left Nunavut before, but he’s doggedly done fund-raising to take them, literally, to Timbuktu, Mexico, and Greece, among other places, where they’ve performed and led workshops, often with other indigenous performers. The circus is beloved in Igloolik: In one high school English classroom, we saw a lesson on the board in which the kids suggested “Bad Examples” of behavior and “Good Examples.” Bad ones included “Taking Drugs” and “Silent Wars.” Good ones included: “Inuit games” and “Artcirq.” On the other hand, we also spent time with a large extended family (including the oldest person in Igloolik, a woman who is roughly 105) and as some of the elders sat around and talked, one said through a translator she thought Artcirq’s show was too white. Artcirq faces large ongoing challenges. Funding is a constant battle.

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More information:

• Artcirq website.
• IsumaTV: Artcirq collection.
• Up Here: “The Ringmaster” (Dec. 2008).
• CS Monitor: “Bringing circus – and new hope – to a remote Arctic village” (Dec. 22, 2009).
• Boston Globe: “A culture cries” (Nov. 17, 2009).