Inuit Art Quarterly - Boundless North: Art Across Borders by Inuit Art Quarterly

Boundless North

Front

CONTENTS

36.2

Inuit Art Quarterly Boundless North

Front

Features

Back CURATORIAL NOTES

05 From the Editor

66 Atlantikumi curated by Nivi Christensen

06 Meet the Contributors 10

70 News

Impact Update

LAST LOOK

5 WORKS

Points of Connection

Albert Olanna by Amy Igri Lowndes

72 Inga-Wiktoria Påve

CHOICE

20 Britta Marakatt-Labba by Jan-Erik Lundström ARTISTS’ CORNER

24 Celebrating the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award Shortlist PROFILE

26 Natashia Allakariallak by Anqi Shen

FEATURE

32 The Answer Is Land by Laura Hodgins

How northern artists are using site-specific projects to reframe the conversation about circumpolar art. FEATURE

44 Taqralik Partridge: Of Minds & Mouths by Tanya Lukin Linklater

Connecting Inuit voices from across the North through words and art. LEGACY

52 Generational Gifts by Malayah Enooyah Maloney

Circumpolar Indigenous artists reflect on trailblazing artists from their regions.

This special issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly features four different covers by four leading contemporary circumpolar Indigenous artists. To learn more about each artist and artwork, turn to page 8. LEFT

Taqralik Partridge — apirsait (detail) 2020 Mixed media Dimensions variable COURTESY CROWN-INDIGENOUS RELATIONS AND NORTHERN AFFAIRS CANADA © THE ARTIST

ABOVE

Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti and Outi Pieski — Rájácummá – Kiss from the Border 2017–18 Printmaker Helsinki Litho Lithograph 50 × 45 cm © THE ARTISTS

Boundless North

Front

MASTHEAD PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Inuit Art Quarterly is published by the Inuit Art Foundation.

Executive Director and Publisher Alysa Procida

President Heather Igloliorte Montreal, QC

Editorial Director Britt Gallpen

Vice-President Reneltta Arluk Vancouver, BC

Established in 1987, the Inuit Art Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides support to Canada’s Inuit arts communities and is the sole national body mandated to promote Inuit artists and art within Canada and internationally. This magazine relies on donations made to the Inuit Art Foundation, a registered charitable organization in Canada (BN #121033724RR0001) and the United States (#980140282). The Inuit Art Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through contributions from the Reconciliation Secretariat at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Creates. Subscriptions subscribe@inuitartfoundation.org Canada: $33/yr. Excludes GST/HST. US: $44/yr. Elsewhere: $48/yr. GST/HST #121033724RT0001. The Inuit Art Quarterly is a member of Magazines Canada. Publication date of this issue: June 15, 2023 ISSN 0831-6708 Publication Mail Agreement #40050252

Deputy Editor Sue Carter Associate Editor Napatsi Folger Associate Editor Lisa Frenette Associate Editor Jessica MacDonald Assistant Editor Leanne Inuarak-Dall Contributing Editor Bronson Jacque Copy Editor Tiffany Larter Fact Checker Michelle Sones Advertising Manager Nicholas Wattson

Secretary-Treasurer Julie Grenier Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC Linda Grussani Ottawa, ON Goretti Kakuktinniq Kangiqliniq, NU Claudette Knight Toronto, ON Michael Massie Kippens, NL Ryan Rice Toronto, ON Director in Training Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette Montreal, QC

Art Director Maegan Fidelino Colour Gas Company Printing Interprovincial Group

FOUNDATION Strategic Initiatives Director Heather Campbell

Inuvialuit Settlement Region Community Liaison Darcie Bernhardt

Inuit Art Foundation 1655 Dupont Street Toronto, ON, M6P 3T1 (647) 498-7717 inuitartfoundation.org

Operations Manager Brittany Holliss

Nunavik Community Liaison Nancy Saunders

Executive Assistant Alyson Hardwick

Nunavut Community Liaison Jesse Tungilik

Staff Writer Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik

Southern Canada Community Liaison Alberta Rose Williams

FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAKE OUR SUBSCRIBERS’ NAMES AVAILABLE TO COMPANIES WHOSE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WE FEEL MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU. TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THESE MAILINGS, PLEASE SEND YOUR REQUEST, ALONG WITH A COPY OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION MAILING LABEL, TO THE ADDRESS ABOVE.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Throughout this issue of the IAQ you will encounter a new format for naming and situating communities, regions and places in order to recognize and affirm the sovereignty of Indigenous homelands within and across the current borders of colonial nation states. Inuit Nunaat, for example, refers to Inuit homelands that span Chuktoka (or the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia), Inupiaq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yup’ik and Cup’ik communities (Alaska), Inuit Nunangat (the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut in Canada) and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Sápmi encompasses the traditional homelands of the Sámi, whose territory that spans the northern areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. As the IAQ continues to increase its circumpolar coverage and discussions with artists, we anticipate that some of these names will evolve, but we are committed to engaging in these ongoing conversations and welcome our readers’ feedback at iaq@inuitartfoundation.org. Additionally, if you’re an Inuit or Sámi artist, curator, writer, language keeper or other cultural producer and would like to participate in our newly reimagined Editorial Advisory Committee, please get in touch.

—

Postmaster send address changes to Inuit Art Foundation. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED MATERIAL. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE INUIT ART FOUNDATION. PRINTED IN CANADA. DISTRIBUTED BY MAGAZINES CANADA.

A NOTE ON PLACE AND NAMING

Awards Manager Paige Connell Artist Portal Coordinator Alessandra Montefiore Digital Outreach Facilitator Danielle Douez Program Officer Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk Social Media Coordinator Maggie Hinbest

Summer 2023

FROM THE EDITOR

While the core focus of our editorial work centres Inuit artists living and working in what is currently known as Canada, it has become increasingly clear that to celebrate these artists is to view them in relation to the practices of Indigenous artists from across the circumpolar North—across imposed borders and untethered from prescriptive definitions. Throughout this issue a series of themes come into focus: land, borders and sovereignty in its many forms; storytelling, knowledge transfer and learning; the rot of colonialism, past and present, as well as the power of Indigenous futurisms and resilience; and love, care and connection. Laura Hodgins’ “The Answer Is Land,” considers how site-specific, land-based art projects situated in often remote locations of the North act as a refusal to dominant, South-centric art narratives and the pressure to have work seen and consumed by southern art audiences. By choosing to situate their works in this way, artists Maureen Gruben, Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti, Outi Pieski, Melissa Shaginoff and Bolatta Silis-Høegh remind us that art by the North, for the North is an act of reclamation in and of itself. In “Generational Gifts,” author Malayah Enooyah Maloney interviewed five leading artists from Alaska, Kalaallit Nunaat and the Sápmi regions spanning Norway, Sweden and Finland to reflect on groundbreaking artists from their respective regions. The result is a thoughtful and succinct view of a broader circumpolar art history informed by interpersonal and community-driven relationships, as shared by Monica L Edmondson, Liisa-Rávná Finbog, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Lisbeth Karline Poulsen and Anniina Turunen. Our final Feature looks at the multifaceted career of artist, writer and curator Taqralik Partridge, whose creative approach is rooted in collaboration, exchange and dialogue with artists from across the North. Authored by Sugpiaq artist and writer Tanya Lukin Linklater, “Of Minds & Mouths,” traces Partridge’s career through spoken word, writing, visual art and, more recently, curatorial work. An advocate for art and artists, Partridge creates and holds space for her peers to be seen and heard by broader audiences, bringing together these shared perspectives through her own work as well. For this issue, Boundless North, we, we have chosen to focus largely on artists living and working in Inuit Nunaat and Sápmi because of their shared histories, geographic proximity and common geopolitical realities. We also recognize the breadth and complexity of community and artistic connections across the North and for this reason, have included a small number of artists from other nations. We also recognize that despite the gains circumpolar Indigenous artists have made as they work to regain sovereignty, they must still contend with the impacts of colonial government policies—and, in the case of Indigenous artists living and working within the state borders of Russia, global sanctions. It is for this reason that you will not see artists from that region represented in this issue. To learn more about this decision, turn to page 8. We see this issue as one step among many towards sharing the richness, complexity and beauty of a transnational Indigenous art community that is only growing in prominence and importance. And while there are many more artists we could not include here due to space, we look forward to expanding our coverage of the many Indigenous artists who call the North home over the coming years, and are thrilled to share more of this work with you here.

Just under a year ago, artists, curators, writers, funders and other cultural workers came together to discuss the shared histories, opportunities, challenges and possible futures of the arts across the circumpolar North at the 2022 Arctic Arts Summit. These conversations, which took place in Whitehorse, YT, on the traditional territories of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, reinforced what artists have been saying for decades, that the connections between circumpolar Indigenous artists hold transformative potential to see the North—and the world—in a new way. While it is by no means comprehensive—the content in this issue does not fully capture or reflect every community that calls the North home and does not define the full circumpolar region—this Summer issue offers a snapshot of art and artists from across the Arctic, now. Hans Ragnar Mathisen — Sábmi with only Sámi place names 1975 Coloured pencil 73 × 88 cm

Britt Gallpen Editorial Director

COURTESY ARKDES PHOTO BJÖRN STRÖMFELDT © THE ARTIST

Boundless North

Front

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

A behind-the-scenes look at the issue The IAQ asked the contributors for Boundless North to share with readers any surprises, inspirations or anecdotes about their work in this issue. Here is what they said:

LAURA HODGINS THE ANSWER IS LAND PAGE 32

As a northerner, it was indulgent to have the chance to chat with and write about an amazing roster of arctic artists. I am left with a renewed sense of hope, love and excitement for arts in the North. We are so rich in creativity!”

“In preparation for writing this article, I reached out to folks for their descriptions of Taqralik Partridge’s advocacy in the field. A response from artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory spoke to me, “breath [as] fire.” Laakkuluk’s phrasing brought language to Taqralik’s ongoing efforts to acknowledge the thinking and action of our peoples across disciplines despite contexts, which often deny our contributions. While this quote is not included in the article, it stays with me.”

TANYA LUKIN LINKLATER TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE: OF MINDS & MOUTHS PAGE 44

This issue’s contributor illustrations are by Coco A. Lynge Coco A. Lynge is a Kalaaleq artist from Nuuk, Inuit Nunaat (Kalaallit Nunaat), now living in Denmark, whose work includes illustration, concept art and visual development. Lynge holds a BA in Computer Graphic Arts from The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark, and currently works as a concept artist, specializing in character designs for AAA games. She has illustrated multiple children’s books; her latest, Counting Arctic Animals, which she also wrote, was published by Inhabit Media in June 2022.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

“My mother’s jewellery box has always represented the height of glamour to me. It is full to overflowing with chunky ivory bracelets, beaded earrings and pins inset with baleen and pearls. Growing up, she would let me borrow pieces to wear for special occasions. Now, I am happy to return to the box to write a special first piece for Inuit Art Quarterly about a bracelet she has that is carved by Albert Olanna.”

AMY IGRI LOWNDES CHOICE: ALBERT OLANNA PAGE 18

MALAYAH ENOOYAH MALONEY GENERATIONAL GIFTS PAGE 52

“Being in the final stages of completing a monograph on the recent work of Britta Marakatt-Labba, I was much pleased with the opportunity to write about and return to Historjá, her seminal game-changing work, completed in 2007. Historjá is one of those works that cannot be exhausted, that merits your attention and time, again and again, a cornucopia that gives more the more time you spend with this identity- and nation-building artwork.”

JAN-ERIK LUNDSTRÖM CHOICE: BRITTA MARAKATT-LABBA PAGE 20

The 2022 Arctic Arts Summit was my first real exposure to other circumpolar Indigenous peoples. I am grateful for that event because of the conversations I’ve either listened to or had with different artists. There are so many relatable issues and interests amongst each circumpolar region and I am inspired by the art that has resulted from important conversations surrounding identity, land use and maintaining cultural knowledge.”

Check out this issue’s artists at inuitartfoundation.org/profiles Boundless North

Front

COVER SPOTLIGHT

Cover Spotlights This issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly, devoted to circumpolar Indigenous art and artists, features multiple limited-run covers featuring works by artists from Inuit Nunaat and Sápmi. Each cover picks up themes that are woven throughout this issue—land and place, materials, connection and exchange, as well as shared histories and possible futures.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs INUIT NUNAAT (ALASKA) Tracing the form of a walrus tusk, a common motif found on parkas created by Iñupiat sewers, Pink Unraveled Secret (2006) hints at the hidden stories, practices and histories of families and communities that have been or may yet become known. Part of a vast body of work rendered in paintings, sculptures, installations and drawings, Sonya Kelliher-Combs’ Secret works pay tribute to the connective tissue of culture. Created from stretched walrus stomach and fixed with acrylic polymer, this painting also evokes Iñupiat harvesting

traditions and the associated specialized knowledge to hunt, prepare and utilize the animal—knowledge the artist has drawn on in the creation of this work. The Iñupiaq and Athabaskan artist is known for her searing and deeply emotive mixed-media painting and sculptural works. Based in Anchorage, Alaska, Kelliher-Combs’ award-winning work has been widely exhibited and collected throughout the United States and Canada.

Taqralik Partridge INUIT NUNAAT (INUIT NUNANGAT)

This photograph of the dump in Iqaluit, Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunangat), is part of Taqralik Partridge’s series titled akunniq (2018–ongoing) that considers what the artist terms “throwaway spaces”—that is, interstitial spaces that are still part of the land like landfills, gulleys, roadsides, parking lots—and how they are part of Inuit life. For Partridge, these locations are central to an Inuit worldview that considers all land to be precious, deserving of care and stewardship. Through her lens, they are regarded as such.

Partridge is an artist, curator, writer and editor from Kuujjuaq, Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunangat), now based in Ottawa, ON. Through words, objects and collaborative practices, Partridge makes and holds space for Inuit worldviews to be celebrated. Her work can be found in the collections of Avataq Cultural Institute, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, the Indigenous Art Collection and others.

TOP

ABOVE (BOTTOM)

OPPOSITE (TOP)

OPPOSITE (BOTTOM)

Sonya Kelliher-Combs — Pink Unraveled Secret 2006 Stretched walrus stomach dipped in acrylic polymer 61 × 61 cm

Taqralik Partridge — Untitled 2022 Digital photograph

Bolatta Silis-Høegh — Ukaliusat 2019 Arctic cotton grass 150 × 250 × 150 cm

Outi Pieski — Our Land, Our Running Colours 2015 Rowan wood and thread 360 × 310 × 155 cm

PHOTO CEBASTIAN ROSING © THE ARTIST

COURTESY FINNISH NATIONAL GALLERY / MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART KIASMA PHOTO PIRJE MYKKÄNEN © THE ARTIST

COURTESY EITELJORG MUSEUM © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

COVER SPOTLIGHT

Bolatta Silis-Høegh INUIT NUNAAT (KALAALLIT NUNAAT) Arctic cotton is an important natural resource found throughout the circumpolar North, and is collected in the summer months by Inuit for use in the depths of winter as a wick for the qulliq. In Bolatta Silis-Høegh’s Ukaliusat (2019) this humble material is transformed into an immersive, experiential artwork. Installed from above, Silis-Høegh’s cotton blooms downward, swaying subtly as viewers move through the space. First presented in Holms Hus (Holm’s House) in Nuuk, Inuit Nunaat (Kalaallit Nunaat) as part of an initiative

of the Nuuk Kunstmuseum, this work captures “the lightness of the cotton grass and the blue sky of the summer.” Working between Kalaallit Nunaat, Denmark and Sweden, Silis-Høegh is known for her work in installation, illustration and painting. She is also a celebrated children’s author. A graduate of the Aarhus Academy of Art, Silis-Høegh has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Kalaallit Nunaat, Denmark and abroad. She is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Outi Pieski SÁPMI (FINLAND) Working with thread and wood, and spanning almost 10 feet across, Outi Pieski’s Our Land, Our Running Colours (2015) transforms the gallery into a living multi-coloured landscape. Created using the polyester fringe ubiquitous in the making of traditional Sámi shawls, the thread has been tied to stripped rowan branches and suspended from above. The result is a three-dimensional painting bursting with colour and movement that celebrates the enduring importance of duodji to Sámi communities and the

intrinsic relationships between art, craft, land and sovereignty. Based in Ohcejohka (Utsjoki), Sápmi (Finland) and Numminen, Finland, Pieski’s vibrant paintings and installations have been the subject of more than a dozen solo exhibitions throughout Europe as well as included in group exhibitions in Canada, Australia, the United States and China. In 2019, Pieski, along with other members of The Miracle Workers Collective, was featured in the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

No Artist Selected - Sanctioned This space is held for a fifth cover that, in other circumstances, would have been published representing the many circumpolar Indigenous nations whose homelands span what is today northern Russia. We recognize and celebrate the many Chukchi, Sámi and other Indigenous artists living and working there who continue to create and share their work

Boundless North

as sovereign peoples. In light of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the Canadian government’s resulting sanctions, you will not find artwork produced by Russia-based artists in this issue. We look forward to sharing the brilliant, nuanced and challenging work of the artists from this region at a time when international sanctions have been lifted.

Front

THANK YOU

Donors make all the difference The Ikajuqtiit Circle changes lives all year long Members of the Ikajuqtiit Circle—those who help—are caring donors who protect and nurture the Inuit art community. As Ikajuqtiit Circle members, you provide opportunities for artists to explore their practices, learn new skills and grow. You raise global awareness and appreciation of Inuit art. The generous Ikajuqtiit Circle members listed on these pages make all this and more possible. Thank you! Gifts listed here were made between March 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

Lipa Pitsiulak — Evening Games of Spring 1979 Printmaker Thomasie Alikatuktuk Stencil 30.5 × 93 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ AND THE GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

THANK YOU

Tunisiniq Nunarjjuaq Piuniqsauqumut Circle The Tunisiniq Nunarjjuaq Piuniqsauqumut Circle is a special group of donors who have included a legacy gift to the IAF in their will. In doing so they will leave a meaningful legacy that supports Inuit artists for generations to come.

Judith DesBrisay Eleanor R. Erikson Bryan Hellwig Warren Howard Kathleen Lippa

Richard Sourkes Scott B. White Bea Zizlavsky and one anonymous donor

IAF Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle The Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle is a special group of donors who give monthly to sustain the IAF and create opportunities for artists. Amy Adams Lea Algar-Moscoe Mary Anglim Stephen Baker Barbara and Vincent Barresi Jonathan Beth and Rex Rutchik Molly Blyth Robbin Bond Bill Bradley Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Tobi Bruce Catherine Campbell Sue Carter Kay Cookie Cartwright Dr. Anne Croy Gordon Davidson Catherine Dean Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Rosemary Delli Zuani Paulette Dennis Celia Denov Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Kelly Dickinson Hal Dietz Patricia and Donald Dodds Tracey Doherty Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Mathieu Doucette Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg Engelstad Family Bob and Bernadette Engelstad F. Enright, to help provide creative opportunities, in particular, for Inuit artists, today

Boundless North

Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Evan and Dustin Maydaniuk, in loving memory of David Stewart Roxanne McCaig Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa Cathy Moser and Jeff Itzkow Paul Newman and Tomokazu Nakamura Rachel O’Neill Dawn Owen Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce André Picard Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg John and Joyce Price David Pride Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart David and Robin Procida Maximilien Raab Eva Riis-Culver Margerit Roger Greg Rogers and Blandina Makkik, in honour of Inuit artists and the magazine that educates us Louise Rolingher Kassie Ruth Carol-Ann Ryan and Dr. Matthew Follwell Michael Ryan

Lynn Feasey Kashtin Fitzsimons Maxime Fortin Alison Freebairn Lisa Frenette Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Kik and Si Gilman Anik Glaude Deborah D. Gordon Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Linda Grussani Barbara Hale Andrea Hamilton Sari Hannila, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Inuit survivors, and the artists who tell Inuit stories ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ Celia Harte Lisa R. Hartman Shawn Hassell Dianne Hayman Bryan Hellwig Brittany Holliss Robert Hurst Aphantasia Indigo Amy Jenkins Rozanne Junker Dr. Claudette Knight M. A. Konantz Katarina Kupca Martina Landry Nancy and Terry Lee Rebecca Lee Mike and Cindy MacMillan Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar

Bruno Savoie Leslie Saxon West Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Anwesha Sen Paul J. Skahan Michelle E. Smith Yu Song Michael and Melanie Southern Joyce and Fred Sparling Charmaine Spencer David Sproule, in loving memory of Robin Mercer-Sproule and Jean Katherine Sproule Suncor Energy Jacek Szulc Jay and Deborah Thomson Emilie Tremblay Gail Vanstone Rosalie Walls and Kathy Simas Robert and Brenda Watson Nicholas Wattson Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Elka Weinstein Peggy Weller Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser Amanda Whitney Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith and ten anonymous donors

Front

THANK YOU

IAF Tunisijut Circle

Monthly supporter Legacy supporter Multi-year pledge supporter Endowment supporter

With annual gifts of $1,000 or more, this incredibly dedicated group provides critical support to connect artists with opportunities and make an extraordinary impact.

$100,000+ RBC Foundation $25,000–$49,999 Carolyn Hsu-Balcer and Rene Balcer Power Corporation of Canada Virginia Watt Perpetual Trust $10,000–$24,999 The Chodos Family Foundation Erik Haites The Wilmott Bruce Hunter Foundation The Herb and Cece Schreiber Foundation Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts $5,000–$9,999 Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Dorothy Cameron Eleanor R. Erikson Joram Piatigorsky $2,500–$4,999 Patricia and Donald Dodds Robert and Karlen Fellows Charles Kingsley David and Liz Macdonald Paul and Carole Pizzolante Kassie Ruth Hunter and Valerie Thompson The Tivi Family $1,000–$2,499 Kristiina and Timmun Alariaq, Huit Huit Tours Ltd. Arctic Co-operatives Limited Judy Banning Barbara and Vincent Barresi Jordy Bell and Stephen Jacoby Elise Brais Lisa-Margaret Stevenson Bryan

Inuit Art Quarterly

Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award supporter Inuit Art Quarterly supporter IAQ Profiles supporter Artist Services supporter

Sanford and Deborah Riley Frances Scheidel Caroline Shaw David Sproule, in loving memory of Robin Mercer-Sproule and Jean Katherine Sproule Gail Vanstone Cathy and David Wilkes Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith Norman Zepp and Judith Varga Bea Zizlavsky and five anonymous donors (2 , 1 , 1 )

Richard Budgell Gabrielle Campbell Clench House Foundation Colourgenics Fine Art Imaging Janet and David Deisley Emily Deming Neil Devitt Hal Dietz Marian Dodds, in honour of Dedie Dodds Arthur Drache CM , KC and Judy Young Drache Jon and Valerie Eliassen Fath Group/O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. Patricia Feheley Peter Gillespie, in memory of Ly Solomon on behalf of the Solomon and Gillespie Fund Janice Gonsalves Carol Heppenstall Jackman Foundation Rawlson King Katarina Kupca Dr. Simon E. Lappi Hesty Leibtag Kathleen Lippa, in memory of Tony Stapells Maija M. Lutz and Peter A. Tassia Susan Marrier MacDonald Griffin Charitable Foundation Patricia McKeown James Miller Lisa Niedenthal Shannon Norberg and Jarvis Hall Susan Ollila Jocelyn Piirainen Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg John and Joyce Price Andrew and Valerie Pringle Shirley Richardson

Illannarijaujut Tunngavinngmit $500–$999 James and Marjorie Abel, in honour of Xanthipi Abel and Richard E. Winslow III Devony Baugh Marc Bendick Jr. and Mary Lou Egan Jean Blane Katharine Bocking Gary Boratto Anne Borchardt, in memory of Claus Borchardt Claus Borchardt Shary Boyle Simon Brascoupé Tobi Bruce Margaret Bursaw, in memory of John Maounis Lili Chester Yvonne C. Condell Gordon Davidson Glenn Dobby and Catherine McInnes My Art Syndicate, Janette Doering, ISA AM Engelstad Family

Bob and Bernadette Engelstad Maxime Fortin Alain Fournier Judith Gavin Linda Grussani Dianne Hayman Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney Bryan Hellwig Mark Hirschman Roger and Margaret Horton Heather Igloliorte and Matthew Brulotte Carola Kaegi Smaro Kamboureli Monty Kehl and Craig Wilbanks Lori Labatt Val Lem Christie MacInnes Kathryn Minard Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Nancy Moore Scott Mullin Allan P. Newell Paul Newman and Tomokazu Nakamura Nadine Nickner and Harald Finkler Suzanne O’Hara Louisa O’Reilly Leon and Sharon Oberlander Dawn Owen Martin Pâquet Don Pether Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Wendy Rittenhouse Margerit Roger Paula Santrach Celine Saucier Michael and Melanie Southern Suncor Energy Marie-Josée Therrien

Summer 2023

THANK YOU

Carol J. Thrun Mark David Turner Peter and Peg Van Brunt Nicholas Wattson Jonathan Weisz Jaan Whitehead Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Peter L. Wilson and six anonymous donors (3 , 5 , 1 ) $250–$499 Amy Adams Carole Ahmad and Family Lea Algar-Moscoe Eleanor Allgood Stephen Baker Susan Baum and Bob Ludwig Christel and Jurh Bieri John Butcher Rebecca Carbin Sue Carter Susan Charlesworth Wayne Clark Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Celia Denov Sara Diamond Kelly Dickinson Tracey Doherty Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Nathalie Ducamp Andy Fallas Alison Freebairn Lisa Frenette Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Dr. and Mrs. Peter Gardner Peter Gold and Athalie Joy Jesse Goodman and Nicole Lurie Deborah D. Gordon Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Barbara Hale

Boundless North

Andrea Hamilton Sari Hannila, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Inuit survivors, and the artists who tell Inuit stories ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ Cary Hart, in memory of Gary Hart Shawn Hassell Jackie Hatherly-Martin and Keith Martin Ingo Hessel Debby and Brian Hirsch Joanne Hommik Dale Horwitz Robert Hurst Lynn Jackson Mame Jackson Patricia James, in honour of Pat Feheley Sharon Jorgens John Kean, in honour of Jenn Kean Sonya Kelliher-Combs Nancy Keppelman and Michael Smerza Dr. Claudette Knight Dr. Pirkko Koppinen Mary Kostman Carolyn M. Lawson Ellen Lehman and Charles Kennel Linda Lewis Joe and Sandra Lintz Dr. Marie A. Loyer Nagesh Mahanthappa Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Evan and Dustin Maydaniuk, in loving memory of David Stewart The Honourable Paul Mayer Lynne McCarthy and Claude Davis Robert Michaud

Cathy Moser and Jeff Itzkow Charles Moss and Dee Fennner Michael and Brenda Noone Donna and Hal Olsen Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce André Picard Barry Pottle Mickey Ranalli Leslie Reid Dr. Timothy W. Reinig Eva Riis-Culver Bruce Roberts Janet Robinson Kerstin Roger and Margerit Roger Brian Rogers, in memory of Reissa Gibbs Greg Rogers and Blandina Makkik, in honour of Inuit artists and the magazine that educates us Susan Rowley Carol-Ann Ryan and Dr. Matthew Follwell Michael Ryan Melina Rymberg, Alexander Davis and Asher Rymberg-Davis Dr. Jinder Sall Leslie Saxon West Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Mark Shiner Charmaine Spencer Amalia Steinberg Tom Suber and Cary Griffin Colleen Suche George Szabo Michel Thabet Jay and Deborah Thomson Kitty Thorne, in loving memory of the Davidee artists and to help support Inuit artists Emilie Tremblay

Joel and Evelyn Umlas Terry Vatrt Rosalie Walls and Kathy Simas Elka Weinstein Peggy Weller Garland Austin Withers Gail Wylie and Dave Wright Dallas Young Mark and Margie Zivin and one anonymous donor (1 , 1 ) $100–$249 Adgar Canada Patricia Allen and Leonard Dueck Wallace Altes Mary Anglim Diana Antoon Vancity Community Foundation, Dr. Hinda Avery Foundation Fund Birgit Bade and David Gooddie Dr. Jim Bader and Merri Van Dyke Catherine Badke H. Mary Balint Heather M. Beecroft Brian and Carol Belchamber Phyllis Berck and Bruce Kidd Jonathan Beth and Rex Rutchik Diane Biehl Dr. Catherine Birt Molly Blyth Robbin Bond Margaret Brill-Edwards Jennifer Brown Stephen Bulger and Catherine Lash Rachel Buxton, in honour of Patty and Tom Reid Dorothy Caldwell Tracy Cambron

Front

THANK YOU

Catherine Campbell Mary F. Campbell Kay Cookie Cartwright Francoise Chagnon David Cherepacha Shelley Chochinov Cobalt Art Gallery Carol A. Cole Catherine C. Cole Sarah Corless, in honour of Dr. Shelly Birnie-Lefcovitch Sylvie Cornez Charles Crockford Dr. Anne Croy Raymond Currie and Charlene Thacker Currie Frederick Cutler Michael de Pencier Catherine Dean Paulette Dennis Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Nadine Di Monte Mathieu Doucette François Dumaine Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg Stephanie Ellis F. Enright, to help provide creative opportunities, in particular, for Inuit artists, today Keith R. Evans KC Lynn Feasey Robin Field Shirley Finfrock Ed Friedman JoAnne and Richard Fuerst Susan Gallpen Glenn Gear Anik Glaude Carole Gobeil Claire S. Gold Eddie Goldstein Karen and George Gorsline Catherine Grant, in honour of Tom McNulty Jane Green Kristine Greenaway Jill M. Greenberg John Hanjian and Carmen Nowak Tekla Harms Celia Harte Lisa R. Hartman Clive Harvey Tatiana Harvey

Inuit Art Quarterly

Quirien Muylwyk Suzanne Nash Gary Nelson Elizabeth O’Grady, in honour of Jennipher Kean Rachel O’Neill Patrick Odier Marina Oeler Dr. Robert Olson Penny Pattinson Kate Permut Ed Pien Richard and Annette Pivnick David Pride David and Robin Procida Maximilien Raab Bayard D. Rea Micky Renders, in honour of Kim Renders Ron and Sigrid Rhodes Louise Rolingher Anita Romaniuk Barry Rosenberg Margaret Rundall Lynne B. Sagalyn Joseph Salkowitz Wally and Lenore Sapach Bruno Savoie Joanne Schwartz Elika Shapiro Paul J. Skahan Michelle E. Smith Jean-Claude Sommier Yu Song Marjorie Sorrell Richard Sourkes Joyce and Fred Sparling Harriet Stairs Elizabeth Steinbrueck Sun Life Financial Jacek Szulc Pauline Taggart Charles and Carol Tator Diana Trafford Anne Vagi James and Louise Vesper Jon L. Vickery, MD Patrizia Villani Nancy Walkling, in memory of Frank O. Walkling Robert and Brenda Watson John Weber, in memory of Mary MacDonald Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley

Laurie Herd Brittany Holliss Albert and Femmeke Holthuis David Homan Jane Horner Warren Howard David Humphrey Aphantasia Indigo Jeannette Jackson-Thompson, in memory of Richard C. Thompson Drs. Laurence and Katherine Jacobs Amy Jenkins Anne and John Jones The Josie Family Cathie Josie Melinda Josie Rozanne Junker Anne Kearns Anne Louise Kelly Bert Kerstetter Karen Kimmett Jo-Ann Kolmes M. A. Konantz Lawrence and Joyce Lacroix Kathryn Lagrandeur Martina Landry Dr. Virginia Lavin Nancy and Terry Lee Rebecca Lee Gordon Leggett Jacob Lewis Jacqueline Littlewood Marilyn and Daryl Logan Denis Longchamps P. Campbell Mackie Mike and Cindy MacMillan Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf Peter Malkin Kathy Mallett, in memory of parents John and Alice Jure Manfreda Dr. Neil and Elaine Margolis Jim Mayerle Roxanne McCaig Alison and Bruce McDonald Dr. Michelle McGeough Phyllis McKinnon Yves Morneau and Lisa Morneau-Rousson David Muir Ted Muir Iet Muylwyk

Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser Scott B. White Amanda Whitney Darlene Coward Wight Marianne Wightman, in memory of Colly Scullion Robert Wolf and 23 anonymous donors (6 , 8 , 2 ) Up to $99 Ariel Ahearn-Ligham Annie Akpaliapik Sue Asquith Oliver Aygun Brit Bachmann Neeraj Bahl Michael Boland Monica Bradford-Lea Bill Bradley Nancy L. Brennan Kevin Burns Dennis Crowley Ed Dahl David Dall Joan Davis Anna De Aguayo Cathy Degryse Rosemary Delli Zuani Sharon Dembo Wilfrid Denis Hilary Dickson Leanne DiMonte Kristin Dowell Amy Ede Catherine Ego Jane F. Ely Pat English Kashtin Fitzsimons Chun Fong Ronald and Anne Foster Melanie Foubert Joana Fraga, on behalf of Joanacchi Paula Frisch Caitlin Gauthier Hannah Gifford Kik and Si Gilman Peggy Gorman Susan C. Griswold Kathryn Hanna Mary Hanson Alyson Hardwick on behalf of Delphine Shiwak Andrew Hardwick

Summer 2023

THANK YOU

Janet Heagle TJ Holmes Andrew Hubbertz Glenys Huws James and Linda Igloliorte Erika Janik Celina Jeffery Marya Jensen Brian Judd Simon Kahn Jennifer Kennedy David Kerr Alia Khan Karine Lacasse Marc Lafontaine Mary Lawrence Breinig William Lee Marion Lord Laura MacDonald Myra Macoomb Catherine Madsen

Geraldine and Peter Marshall Francis-Robert McCall Mary McLaren Joanna P. McMann Colette Meehan Colin Mein Marie Moet Oliver Moorhouse Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa Peter Murphy Jennifer Nadeau Lou Nelson Susan Newlove Peter Noteboom Keitrah Oakley Lauriane Ouellet Erin Palmer, in memory of Joan “Colly” Scullion Annie Paquin Morna Paterson

Krystal Pidborochynski Felicity Pope Steve Potocny Shirley and John Powell Sharlene Rankin Diane Ravenscroft Marilyn Robinson Henrietta Roi Irene Rokaw Richard and Yvonne Rothenberg Janet Savard Kathryn Scott Patricia Scott Jeffrey Seidman Anwesha Sen Paul Shackel and Barbara Little Sharon Lee Shafii Bo Simango, on behalf of my father

Fiona Snow Superstar X Magazine Merren Jane Tardivelle Bertha Thompson Karen Thorne-Stone Feliz Tupe Darlene Tymn Cindy Van Eindhoven Safina Vesuna Charles Voirin Maarten Vonhof Milly Walker James and Karen Walton Garnet Ward Jennifer White Mark and Margaret Whitley William Wood and 15 anonymous donors (1 , 5 , 3 )

You can make the difference There are more than 13,000 Inuit artists working in Canada today. Many face barriers to making and showcasing their work, but all deserve the same opportunities other artists have for their voices to be heard and their work to be seen. By giving to the IAF, you help artists working across Inuit Nunangat and beyond connect to opportunities, have platforms for their work to be seen and build their careers. Celebrate the art you love and make a difference by donating today. To learn more about how to support artists, please contact us at 647-498-7717 ext. 104, visit us online at inuitartfoundation.org/ways-to-give or simply scan the QR code to the left.

Boundless North

Front

5 WORKS

Points of Connection Circumpolar contributors share favourite artworks from their region 2/

Julie Edel Hardenberg

Me with my siblings (2005) This captivating image is one of the many stunning visuals featured in Julie Edel Hardenberg’s book The Quiet Diversity (2005). The work shows Hardenberg with her Danish and Kalaallit siblings. I have seen Kalaallit face ignorance and prejudice due to the stereotypical image of what a Kalaaleq should be, which includes speaking Kalaallisut and having dark facial features and hair. But here Hardenberg has captured the variety and complexity of the people living in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), revealing the true beauty of this culture in a way that shows the diversity of Kalaallit Nunaat following centuries of colonization and immigration. The striking visuals communicate a message of unity and diversity: looks and language don’t define our identity. ARNATSIAQ QVIST

Artist and sewist Uummannaq, Inuit Nunaat (Kalaallit Nunaat)

Folke Fjällström

Vuojeke (Essen’s) (2014) I believe this work represents a process that starts in the wood. Folke Fjällström is a Sámi duojár (craftsperson) and sculptor from Vålådalen, Sápmi (Sweden), part of a south Sámi tradition that puts the collection and processing of materials as well as the use of ornamentation on a continuum. Typically when a duojár collects burl for specific functional forms, they look for undamaged parts. But here Fjällström has interpreted this continuity as a personal expression, using burl that seems damaged to create an artwork based on phenomena and designs that exist in nature. The shape and content of Vuojeke (Essen’s) has a strong symbiosis between the material selection and the ornamentation, and thus south Sámi craft aesthetics are prominent in the work. GUNVOR GUTTORM

Professor in duodji Jokkmokk, Sápmi (Sweden) Inuit Art Quarterly

LEFT

ABOVE

Folke Fjällström — Vuojeke (Essen’s) 2014 Birch tree and birch burl 140 × 110 cm

Julie Edel Hardenberg — Me with my siblings 2005 Digital photograph © THE ARTIST

Summer 2023

5 WORKS

Synnøve Persen

Måltid (1978) First shown at an exhibition in 1978 in Oslo, Norway, Synnøve Persen’s Måltid, meaning “Meal,” was painted that same spring. The colours are intriguingly vivid, the five faces closed and without clear details, and there’s a sense of a suspense amongst the Sámi-clothed group. They’re all seated with a blond woman as the centre point, reminding me both of the artist herself and Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper (1495–98), with the woman as John,

sitting and leaning towards a person on the left in the scene. Persen told me she saw da Vinci’s painting in Milan, Italy, so it has perhaps inspired the motif. The dynamic is enigmatic: is it a wedding, a night on the town or an ongoing drama?

Jonasie Faber

SUSANNE HÆTTA

Artist Vadsø, Sápmi (Norway)

Power of the Bear (2019) My father, Jonasie Faber, is a Kalaaleq artist from the community of Qaqortoq in Inuit Nunaat (Kalaallit Nunaat). He specializes in steatite carving and jewellery design. Growing up in a home filled with Inuit steatite works, I have grown to find comfort in their presence. A work that is particularly important to me is Power of the Bear, the one piece of my father’s that I have in my home. It’s made from a beautiful ice-like white stone and portrays a group of hunters on an umiak that rests on the back of a polar bear. Apart from being a warm reminder of home, it also displays the strength of being in a group and our dependence on nature. JONAS HENDERSON

Artist Montreal, QC

LEFT (TOP)

Synnøve Persen — Måltid 1978 Oil 102 × 94 cm

Unknown Artist

Bone Scraper (n.d.)

Boundless North

Last summer while visiting Halibut Cove, Alaska, a friend showed me a collection of archaeological materials he had unearthed in his backyard: a tiny bone needle, two awls, a bone scraper and a few stone ulu blades, all perhaps part of a woman’s sewing kit used thousands of years ago. I was drawn to the simple design of the scraper, made to fit a woman’s hands and well worn. Holding it in my own hand, so many questions ran through my mind. Was this

tool used to process gut from a seal, sea lion or bear to make a waterproof parka? What did the parka look like? When was the last time someone from our region used a tool like this? This scraper connects me to the deep human history of Kachemak Bay and reminds me of the ingenuity and brilliance of my ancestors. NADIA JACKINSKY-SETHI

Art Historian Homer, Alaska 17

LEFT (BOTTOM)

Unknown Artist — Bone Scraper n.d. Bone 10.2 × 6.1 cm COURTESY NADIA JACKINSKY-SETHI

ABOVE

Jonasie Faber — Power of the Bear 2019 Stone 14 × 33 × 15 cm COURTESY JONAS HENDERSON © THE ARTIST

Front

CHOICE

Albert Olanna Untitled

by Amy Igri Lowndes

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

CHOICE

In comics there is not a set rhythm, like in oral storytelling or music. Time is shown by the empty space between panels, called the gutter, a beat between actions.

A figure in profile walks along a white expanse. From the other direction, another figure arrives. They clasp hands and we see their backs, the retreating outlines of kuspuks. We then see two pairs of footsteps leading up to an iglu. This story is told by Albert Olanna, a master carver from Qigiqtaq (Shishmaref), Inuit Nunaat (Alaska). It is told on a bracelet, the series referred to as story bracelets, in which he scrimshawed in light strokes on five walrus ivory panels, broken up by another five panels of darker fossilized ivory. Olanna is known for his bracelets, which often depict stories of love, the hunt or representations of arctic animals. This particular story bracelet, of which many iterations have been made, belongs to my mother. It was gifted to her by my father for their wedding anniversary several years ago. He purchased it at the Alaska Native Medical Center gift shop, a must-go in Anchorage for lovers of Alaska Native art. I remember turning it over and over in my hands, replaying the action of the panels. It is hypnotizing to watch the figures meet, disappear into the snow, meet again. It is a sweet story and the ivory bracelet presents a fresh medium to tell it, an object that is at once a carving, a cartoon and wearable art. As all of these things, it is completely unique. Although it certainly belongs to many different familial, cultural and artistic traditions, here, I will think about it within the comic context. In Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics (1994), a foundational text for analyzing the medium, he describes the concept of closure. It is, he writes, “observing the parts, but perceiving the whole.” 1 In comics there is not a set rhythm, like in oral

Albert Olanna — Untitled c. 2000 Walrus ivory and fossilized walrus ivory 2.2 × 22.2 cm

storytelling or music. Time is shown by the empty space between panels, called the gutter, a beat between actions. In the first etched panel of Olanna’s bracelet, we see the profile of a woman facing the right; in the next, a man facing the left. Though the figures are alone in their panels, with comic closure we can understand something is passing between them. The unetched brown panel they gaze across creates the space for this. This gutter asks us to think about the space between as full and deep. It is fossilized ivory, a physical artifact demonstrating the passage of time. Are they encountering each other for the first time? Are they old lovers? Gender may be inferred by the traditional kuspuks they wear, but in the simplicity of the lines, they might be anyone. It is partly this ambiguity which makes the story so compelling. The realm of lovers is constructed apart from the real, set in an intimacy that melts away time and setting. Olanna emphasizes the intensity of the interaction in the first four panels by only sketching the figures; the blankness of the ivory background might depict snow. In the last panel, though, the scene abruptly fills in and widens. The figures have disappeared, sequestered in an iglu, confined by ranging mountains, hidden from the gaze of the sun. It is an epic comic transition. We are suddenly excluded from the private world of the two lovers, left to imagine the rest of the story, or not. — Amy Igri Lowndes is an Iñupiaq artist and writer. She graduated in 2022 from Pomona College in Southern California with a BA in Studio Art. She loves sewing, drawing and country music.

NOTES

¹ Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics (New York: Harper Perennial, 1994), 63.

COURTESY AMY IGRI LOWNDES © THE ARTIST

Boundless North

Front

CHOICE

Britta Marakatt-Labba Historjá

by Jan-Erik Lundström

ABOVE

Britta Marakatt-Labba — Historjá (details) 2003–07 Embroidery, print appliqué and wool on linen 39 cm × 24 m

OPPOSITE

Historjá installed in Solhallen (The Sun Hall), an atrium at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø

ALL COURTESY UIT THE ARCTIC UNIVERSITY OF NORWAY ALL PHOTOS DAVID JENSEN ALL © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

CHOICE

dramatic scene, including a church on fire and angry citizens revolting. However, the tableaux, including a narrative of modernity, visualized as the shift from traditional reindeer travel to the use of the snowmobile, are not interruptions in the overall panoramic configuration. Historjá is seamless, a single visual corpus guiding with its calm undulating rhythm. The cosmos and the domestic, mythology and history, are co-present in Historjá. The maternal goddesses are rendered wearing red ládjogáhpir, a Sámi female hat with a horn-shaped top that was prohibited during colonization, now revived as a symbol of identity and autonomy. Another scene, staged as a primordial theatre, gathers a Sámi collective looking up in grand reverence at a starry night sky, signalling their enduring relationship to the living environment. When the starry sky reappears in another part of the frieze, it is a Sámi cosmos. Not only named in Sámi, Historjá identifies specific Sámi constellations: Cuoigga headdjit, The Skier, and Sarvva, The Moose. Historjá engages the empowering identity work of language, inwards and outwards: to name, narrate and depict, from the vernacular to the cosmic, the decolonial work of repossessing the power of self-representation, to become and remain subject in one’s world. Historjá.

Historjá, history. It begins in the beginning. And—since time in Sámi culture is circular—in the end it begins all over again. The two-headed mother goddess Máttaráhkká watches over the sleeping children, while the goddess of the hunt, Juoksaáhkká, also suspended in the sky, prepares to release her arrow of fertility and hunting luck from her bow. But nearby lurks Stallo, the evil but not very cunning giant looking for children to capture. Existence is precarious. Respect and care are virtues that will guide life’s adventure. Five years in the making, Britta Marakatt-Labba’s succinctly titled embroidered frieze Historjá (2003–07) runs 24 metres in length and 39 centimetres in height, wrapping Solhallen (The Sun Hall), an atrium in the Tromsø campus of UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Historjá is epic on all counts; a sumptuous, eloquent and spellbinding articulation of Sámi history, culture and cosmology from the myth of creation up to the present. Marakatt-Labba’s characteristic horizontal aesthetic gets to work here with full force. Historjá is a vertiginous panoramic work that holds full attention as it stretches along two walls. But this monumental expanse remains intimate because of its humble vertical reach, softly urging one to move along. A sense of uninterrupted movement permeates the entire work. Historjá’s modest height pull us in, immersing us in Sápmi’s vast landscape, from mountain and tundra to forest and ocean, all elegantly and economically depicted with Marakatt-Labba’s distinct language of the cotton embroidery thread. The dialogue created by the dramatic difference between its height and its vastness is underlined by punctuating the fluid landscape–and its dense current of animals, people, trees, mountains, stars and generations– with several tableaux detailing particular historical events. The Kautokeino rebellion of 1852, a historically significant uprising by local Sámi against the colonial authorities, is summoned in a

Boundless North

— Jan-Erik Lundström is a curator, writer and art historian. He is the former director of the Sámi Center of Contemporary Art, of Bildmuseet, and of Fotografiska museet at Moderna Museet. He is chair of Paletten Art Journal. Among his curatorial projects are Čájet ivnni/Show Colour, The Map: Critical Cartographies and the first Thessaloniki Biennial. Lundström is an author and editor of many books, including Qummut Qukiria! Art, Culture, and Sovereignty Across Inuit Nunaat and Sápmi.

Front

MAUREEN GRUBEN

KABLUSIAK

BILLY GAUTHIER

NINGIUKULU TEEVEE

GAYLE UYAGAQI KABLOONA

Anaanatta Unikkaangit Our Mother’s Stories

THE KENOJUAK ASHEVAK MEMORIAL AWARD 2023 SHORTLIST

I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H

Celebrate the five shortlisted artists for the 2023 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award at a special group exhibition at WAG-Qaumajuq. This biennial prize supports mid-career Inuit artists working across all media by facilitating opportunities for artistic development and career growth.

OPENS MAY 19, 2023

wag.ca

Tusarnitut!

MUSIC BORN

OF THE COLD

ORGANIZED BY

ON NOW ROM is FREE for Indigenous peoples.

PARTNER OF THE CANADIAN TOUR

rom.ca

An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. An exhibition curated by Jean-Jacques Nattiez, ethnomusicologist and Professor Emeritus at Université de Montréal, and Lisa Qiluqqi Koperqualuk, Curator and Mediator of Inuit Art, MMFA, in collaboration with Charissa Von Harringa, Curatorial Associate, MMFA. Karoo Ashevak (1940-1974), Untitled (Drum Beater), about 1973. MMFA, purchase, gift of L. Marguerite Vaughan. © Public Trustee of Nunavut, Estate of Karoo Ashevak. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest.

ARTISTS’ CORNER

Meet the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award Shortlisted Artists This Summer! Join the Inuit Art Foundation in celebrating the five outstanding Inuit artists named as the 2023 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award (KAMA) shortlist! Announced on May 19, Billy Gauthier, Maureen Gruben, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Kablusiak and Ningiukulu Teevee each received a cash prize of $5,000 and are part of the first-ever KAMA shortlist group exhibition presented with programming partner, Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq. The Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award Shortlist Exhibition Anaanatta Unikkaangit (Our Mother’s Stories) opened in conjunction with the announcement of the shortlist and runs into November 2023. This June, we invite you to join weekly virtual talks with each shortlisted artist for an exclusive chance to hear them speak in depth about their practices, what they are working on now and what’s to come! To claim your spot at upcoming events, or see recordings of any that you have missed, go to inuitartfoundation.org/kama.

Save the dates for more KAMA gatherings this fall! Shortlist Virtual Roundtable This fall join a virtual roundtable featuring a lively discussion with all the shortlisted artists. Stay tuned for the official date, which will be announced on our website. Also, make sure to check back regularly as new events are being added all the time!

Inuit Art Quarterly

Winner Announcement Ceremony You won’t want to miss our biggest event of the season! On September 22, the 2023 KAMA winner will be announced at a ceremony coinciding with the opening of Gasoline Rainbows, the solo exhibition of 2021 KAMA winner Tarralik Duffy, at WAG-Qaumajuq. We look forward to celebrating with you! 24

ABOVE

Kenojuak Ashevak — Rabbit Eating Seaweed 1958 Printmaker Iyola Kingwatsiak Sealskin stencil 22.9 × 61 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST

Summer 2023

ARTISTS’ CORNER

Billy Gauthier June 1, 2023, 7 PM EST Get to know celebrated sculptor and environmental activist Billy Gauthier from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL, whose intricate works depict traditional Inuit practices, cosmologies, spirituality and personal memories.

Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona June 8, 2023, 7 PM EST Connect with multidisciplinary artist Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona from Ottawa, ON, whose work incorporates traditional Inuit stories told through a modern, feminist lens through a variety of media, including textile, ceramics and prints.

Kablusiak June 15, 2023, 7 PM EST Meet Calgary, AB–based, Inuvialuk artist Kablusiak, whose work pushes boundaries across diverse media, using art and humour as mechanisms to subtly address diaspora, mental health, gender expression and sexuality.

Maureen Gruben June 22, 2023, 7 PM EST Learn more about Inuvialuk artist Maureen Gruben, from Tuktuuyaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, whose work sits at the intersection of installation, performance, textile and sculpture.

Ningiukulu Teevee June 29, 2023, 7 PM EST Hear from graphic artist and author Ningiukulu Teevee from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, best known for her bright, modern reimagining of traditional stories featuring playful depictions of arctic animals and people.

Learn more about the shortlisted artists at inuitartfoundation.org/kama

About the Award

KAMA is generously supported by

KAMA is a biennial prize honouring the late Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, ONu, RCA (1927–2013) by supporting the practice of an Inuk artist and facilitating opportunities for artistic development and career growth. This is a remarkable year for the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award, which has grown every year since the award was established in 2014 with the generosity and dedication of the Inuit art community. This year KAMA expanded its impact, thanks to the exceptional support of RBC Emerging Artists, to include a longlist of ten artists who were announced in February and were celebrated in a limited-edition, archival-quality catalogue sent to all Inuit Art Quarterly subscribers with the Spring issue.

and many members of the Inuit art community

Programming in partnership with

A digital version of the catalogue is now available at inuitartfoundation.org/kama.

Boundless North

Front

PROFILE

Natashia Allakariallak

BELOW (LEFT)

BELOW (RIGHT)

Natashia Allakariallak — Reclaimed By The Land 2022 Linocut 38.1 × 27.9 cm

UNAPOLOGETIC 2021 Linocut 35.6 × 27.9 cm

ALL © THE ARTIST

by Anqi Shen

As a child growing up in Iqaluit, Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunangat), Natashia Allakariallak watched her mother Madeleine Allakariallak perform as a singer and a throat singer, and as a host for many musical events throughout Nunavut and the rest of Canada. Deeply moved by these formative experiences, Allakariallak developed a fondness for performance and grew up “loving all forms of artistic expression.” 1 In developing her own artistic practice, Allakariallak embraces various media. She continues to hone her craft in performance-based art—throat singing, contemporary folk and pop—along Inuit Art Quarterly

with jewellery making, linocut printmaking, textiles and carving. Unbound by medium or geography, Allakariallak has worked throughout the circumpolar region: in 2017 as a travelling performer and composer in the Inuit epic Kiviuq Returns, and then in 2019 as the show’s assistant stage manager. The theatrical performance is a rendition of five stories passed down by Elders of the legendary hero Kiviuq. The nature of Allakariallak’s involvement in the production—as a throat singer, songwriter, performer (she played the Seal, Orphan, Fox Woman, Skeleton and Gosling) and 26

her role backstage—exemplifies her multifaceted talents. “Before and after the play production, I found my voice as a singer and had begun building momentum,” she says. Since becoming a mother of two children with her partner Jaqqa, and facing the difficulties of travelling with infants, Allakariallak has found other ways of expressing herself as an artist. “I began exploring jewellery making with materials gifted to me by seamstresses in Nunavut. As I continued to explore and practice new skills, I discovered my love for printmaking,” says Allakariallak. “What I love deeply about Summer 2023

PROFILE

my community is the willingness to share knowledge and resources amongst each other.” As an entrepreneur, Allakariallak sells her art in collaboration with Jaqqa under the banner of Sailiniq, named after their daughter Saili— meaning “to bring peace,” in Inuktitut. Her jewellery is characterized by its precision and durability, with free-form shapes carved from narwhal tusk, baleen, horn and metal set against the orderliness of geometric shapes cut from bleached sealskin and fish leather. “As I became more eager to learn and create different styles of jewellery, the usage of different local materials also came to mind,” Allakariallak says. “I had started off working solely with sealskin, and then I wanted to implement other locally sourced materials.” Allakariallak’s creations are inspired by Inuit women who maintain practices dedicated to cultural preservation and self discovery. In her monochromatic black-and-white print Reclaimed By The Land (2022), a woman sits on a rock with her back to the viewer; with her hand to her head she appears engaged in an act of meditation. Drying Fish (2022) shows a woman saluted by the sun as she stretches upward and raises her hands to the fish on the drying rack. The stoic solitude of the women Allakariallak depicts in these prints reflect a deep resilience and inner harmony.

Boundless North

For Allakariallak, seeing her children express interest in her art and joining in the experience with her is one of the most rewarding parts of being an artist. In the linocut print UNAPOLOGETIC (2021), a figure sits face forward, legs stout and arms tucked behind. “The creation of this print was especially beautiful,” Allakariallak mused on her Instagram post about the piece.2 “My little woke up from her nap and curled into my lap. We sat skin to skin, in silence and deep loving until I finished. Without demanding my attention, she sat still and observed my work.” As a mother and artist, Allakariallak continues to explore the depths and distances between kinship and personal identity—how the passage of time affects one’s body and the relationships we hold. “I always say art has saved my life, many times,” Allakariallak says. “Especially through my earliest moments of motherhood where I battled through postpartum depression. As I move through growing pains and joys in life . . . my work reflects those different stages.”

BELOW (LEFT)

Drying Fish 2022 Linocut 38.1 × 27.9 cm BELOW (RIGHT TOP)

Natashia Allakariallak in Kiviuq Returns, 2017 COURTESY QAGGIAVUUT!

BELOW (RIGHT BOTTOM)

Untitled 2022 Naluaq and tusk NOTES

¹ All quotes Natashia Allakariallak, personal communication, May 2023. ² Natashia Allakariallak (@sailiniq), Instagram, October 25, 2021.

— Anqi Shen is a writer living in Mississauga, ON. She is interested in visual art, film, open knowledge and the social impact sector. This Profile was made possible through support from RBC Emerging Artists.

Front

Inuit cultural educator Martha Flaherty

©Scott Forsyth

©Jen Derbach

©Dennis Minty

Embark on an Epic Journey into the Heart of the Inuit Homelands Sail through one of the world’s most celebrated ocean routes, the Northwest Passage. Travel with Inuit cultural educators and learn firsthand about the region’s ancient history and modernday Inuit sovereignty. Enjoy a warm welcome in Nunavut and Greenland communities and listen to breathtaking throat singing performances.

Sample scrumptious Arctic cuisine and see stone turned into art by master carvers. Search for rich Arctic wildlife—polar bears, muskoxen, narwhals, belugas, and walruses— and witness breathtaking icy landscapes with knowledgeable locals. Join us on this thrilling Arctic journey with the people who know it best! LEARN MORE

advcan.ca/iaq-arctic 800.363.7566 Adventure Canada, 55 Woodlawn Ave, Mississauga, ON L5G 3K7 Canada, TICO Reg# 4001400

Canadian-owned and operated since 1987

Some of the photographs in this advertisement were taken with a telephoto (zoom) lens and may appear closer to ice and wildlife than we really were. We always keep a safe distance and follow mandated regulations.

YOUR ONLINE ART GALLERY AUTHENTIC • SECURE • TRUSTED ü Free shipping (US/Can)

Shuvinai Ashoona Untitled (Sunny Day) (Cape Dorset, 2022)

REPRODUSED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST

ü Top-rated service

www.NativeCanadianArts.com phone: 604.679.8392

Inuit Art Quarterly

info@nativecanadianarts.com

Summer 2023

Fusion Collaborative Drawings from Kinngait

May 24 - June 24 Shuvinai Ashoona & Ooloosie Saila OCTOPUS BIRTH ON THE LAND 2022, coloured pencil & ink, 23 x 15 in.

www.feheleyfinearts.com gallery@feheleyfinearts.com 65 George Street, Toronto 416 323 1373

W W W . M A D R O N A G A L L E R Y . C O M

CONTEMPORARY & HISTORIC 6 0 6 V I E W S T R E E T, V I C TO R I A , B . C . 2 5 0 . 3 8 0 . 4 6 6 0 Killiktee Killiktee - Alliruuk - 15.5” x 23” - Coloured Pencil, Ink on Paper

Boundless North

Front

The Answer Is Land — by Laura Hodgins Translated by Elizabeth Qulaut

— titraqtanga Laura Hodgins Inuktituuliqtitaujuq uumunga Elizabeth Qulaut

Kiujjutaujuq Nuna

Melissa Shaginoff — In Campaign for Acknowledgment (Dust in Palmer) 2020–Present Digital photograph © THE ARTIST

ABOVE

Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti and Outi Pieski — Rájácummá – Kiss from the Border (only take what’s needed) 2017–18 Digital photograph © THE ARTISTS

Inuit Art Quarterly

Through four land-based art projects spread across the circumpolar North, Laura Hodgins examines how northern artists are pushing back against a South-centred art narrative and are instead choosing to situate their works in nearby landscapes.

Infrastructure has long been a barrier to artists that reside in the circumpolar North, affecting their access to exhibition opportunities, connections and recognition. The stereotype has been that for a northern artist to “make it” in the art world they have to leave their home territory. But artists are pushing back. As a northerner who had to move South to pursue higher education—there is no university in my territory—I know firsthand how disorienting it can be to travel south in pursuit of a career in the

arts. In recent land-based projects created by artists like Maureen Gruben, Bolatta Silis-Høegh, Melissa Shaginoff, Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti and Outi Pieski, I see a resistance to this South-centric narrative, with the artists employing symbolism, signage, humour and poetry to reclaim both art and land on Northern terms. These artists are stepping out of white cube–gallery spaces and instead using the forests, ice and land of their communities as sites of installation, learning and teaching for their creative practices.

Summer 2023

Tisamaujunik nunamik tungavilingningaaqtunik silarjuarmit ukiuqtaqtuqutilimaanginnik pijausimavuq, Laura Hodgins qaujisarniqaqput qanuq ukiuqtaqtumiut sanagaliuqtiit qallunaanik isumataqammaringninginik ammalu niruaqsingilutik piliriammarigijaninginnik pijutiqaqLutik nunammarigijanginik.

KINGUNIANIITTUQ

Melissa Shaginoff — Qaujitittinasuktut ilitarijaunirmut (Palmer-mit pujuuq) 2020–Ullumimut tikiutillugu Ajjiliuqtausimajuq © SANAUGALIUQTI

QULAANIITTUQ

Sanasimajut agviarutaunginnaqattaqpuq sanaugaliuqtinut nunqaqtunuk silarjuarmit ukiuqtaqtuqutinganirmiunit, akturutauvakLuni takuksautittinirmut sanaugaliuqtaminik, ilitarijaunirmullu. Taimali tamakkua ukiuqtaqtumiutat sanaugaliuqtiit uqaujjausimavut imanna “sanalusi” uqausiq imanna tukiqaqpuq, angirraminik qimaigiaqaqput qallunaanut nuullutik. Kisianili tamamakkua sanaugaliuqtiit imanna pinasuliqput, taimaigiaqangittugut nunattinniinginnariaqatugut. Ukiuqtaqtumiutaullunga nuulauqsimavunga Montreamut, Quebecmut, quttinniqsamik illinniakkannirumallunga—silattuqsarvigjuaqtaqangimmat uvanga nunaganit— Kaujimattiaqtunga qanuq iLuringinniusuunguninganik qallunaat nunanganuaqLuni

Boundless North

Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti ammalu Outi Pieski — Rájácummá – Kuniktausimajuq Nunaqutigijaujuup kiglinganik (pijunnaqpusi kisiani aturiaqaqtassinnik) 2017–18 Ajjiliuqtausimajuq © SANAUGALIUQTI

The Answer Is Land

BELOW & OPPOSITE

Maureen Gruben — Untitled (In process) (installation views) 2022 Broadcloth, two panels 8.5 × 17.1 m each panel COURTESY TUK TV © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Inuvialuk Maureen Gruben is one Arctic artist who has steadfastly grounded her practice in the North. Her first major land-based art piece, Stitching My Landscape (2017), connected 111 ice holes with red broadcloth. Gruben reuses this cloth in her recent work, Untitled (In process) (2022), salvaging two panels to create a bold red cross—an international symbol of protection and humanitarianism—to bring awareness to the rapidly eroding coast. Tuktuuyaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunangat), a hamlet on the shores of the Beaufort Sea, loses approximately a metre of coastline every year as it collapses into the ocean. “According to scientists and from what we can see with our own eyes of this community, this peninsula will not last that much longer,” says Gruben.1 “Right now we’re just doing Band-Aid fixes but we eventually will have to relocate.” Untitled (In process) was secured onto the ice for two months, packed tightly with snow. Keeping a close watch on the changes through

storms, Gruben returned in June just as the ice was rotting—melting unevenly and no longer trustworthy to travel upon—to retrieve the cloth. In the end a striking pool of water melted into a perfect cross where the fabric had been, an ironic emphasis on the humanitarian aid the Tuktuuyaqtuuq ice is begging for. Gruben explains that she chooses to use the ice as the setting for so many of her projects because “it’s a beautiful white landscape, and that’s what you usually have in the white cube. You put art up against that white landscape and there’s no difference.” More than just reclaiming that space, Gruben asserts that framing art on the land adds additional meaning to the piece: “It has so much more . . . I don’t want to say power, but so much more strength because the land carries your work.” Bolatta Silis-Høegh’s installation Haveforeningen “Sisimiut” Anno 2068 (2009) also illuminates the indeterminate environmental future of her home in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland).

Summer 2023

ajurunniikkannirumalluni sanaugaliurnirmik. Maannsaangulauqtuq nunamik tungavilingnik piliriangujuq taakkunangat sanaugaliuqtiujunik Maureen Gruben, Bolatta Silis-Høegh, Melissa Shaginoff, Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti ammalu Outi Pieski, qaujililauqpunga taakkua sanaugaliuqtiujut pijumalaunginninginnik qallunaanik aaqiktaujimajunik, taakkua sanaugaliuqtiit atuqLutik sanarrutillaringinnik, atiliurutinginniklu atuqLutik ammalu pisimmamariLutik sanaugaliuqtangit nunallaringaningaaqtunik. Taakua sanaugaliuqtiit aturunniiqsimaliqtut qallunaat nunanganirmiutitut kisianili atungaaliqLutik napaaqtulinguanik, sikuni, ammalu nunamik nunalinginningaaqtunik ilinniarutaullutik takujauqattarniarmata. Inuvialungmiutaq Maureen Gruben ukiuqtaqtumiutaulluni sanaugaliuqtiujuq sanaugaliuqtangit takuksauniqammarikput ukiuqtaqtumiutauninganik. Sivulliqpaamit sanalauqsimajanga nunamik tungaviqammarikLuni, miqsuqLunga nunanik pijjutilingmit (2017), 111-nik sikumik angmajunguanik sanasimallutik aupaqtunik qallunaaqtanik. Gruben taimanna atuinnaqattaqtuq sanalluni ullumimut tikiutillugu, sanajavininga Taijaujjutiqangituq (Suli sanavalliajanga) (2022), sanningajunguaq aupaqtumik atuqLuni—silarjualimaamit sapummijaujjutaungmijumik. Tutuujaqtumit Inuvialuit nunaliqutinginnik, Nunattiarmit, nunaliralaangujuq tamaani Beaufort-liup tariunganik, pitaqarunniilirmat angijualungmit sigjanganik arraagutamaat tamaung tariurjuarmungauvallialluni. “Qaujisaqtirjuat uqaqsimaliqput ammalu uvagut takujunnattiaqLutigut nunalittinnik, tamanna nuvuarjuqutivut akuniungittuq pitaqarunniirnialiqtuq,” uqalauqtuq Gruben. 1 “Ullumiujurli suurlu mattutiqsuiquujilluta pinasuqattaliqpugut kisianili nuugiaqarnialiqtugut asianut nunaliktaarasulirluta.” Taijaujjutiqangituq (Suli sanavalliajanga) suurlu sikumut nuqqaqtitausimalluni taqqinut marrunut, aputimullu saujausimalluni. NautiqsuinnaqpakLutigulu asijjiqpalliajumik piqsiqtillugu, Gruben utilauqsimajuq siku surakpallialiqtillugu Junimit—aukpallialiqtillugu ammalu quaqsaarnaqsilluni tamauna sikukkut aullaariaksaq. Kinguniagulli, aput auksimaliqtillugu takuksauniqaliqLunilu sanningajunguarmik tamaani qallunaaqtamit inigijaujuvinirmi, suurlu

Tuktuujaqtumit siku piqujisimammarikLuni suraqujingiLuni nunaligijaujumik, sananguaqtanganik taimanna takuksainqaqtuq. Gruben uqalauqtuq atuqattarniqsaunirailluni sukunguanik sanaguaqtaminut pijjutigillugu “Piujummarialuungmata qaulluqtut nunait, ammalu taimaittunik qauluqtunik takuinnaujaqpusi. Sananguapakpusi qauluqtunik nunamik ammalu taima ajjiqangittuq.” Taimali taimanna uqatuinnangiLuni, Gruben uqalaurivuq taimaittunik sananguaqLuni nunanik suurlu ilautittikkannisuunguvut kisutuinnaqnik: “Pitaqakanniqtummarialuungmat . . . uqarumavungali sanginiqtaqammaringmat, sanginimmarikanirmik pitaqakkanniqput pijjutigillugu nuna pitaqarmat ilissi sanajasinnik.” Bolatta Silis-Høegh aaqiksulauqtanga Haveforeningen “Sisimiut” Anno 2068 (2009) sanasimgivuq nunamiktauq nunanganik KalaaLit nunanganik. Silis-Høegh ukiuqtaqtumit ukiunik 60-nik isumagivauk sivuniksamik pijjutigilluniuk. Qarliralaak nattiup amianik sanasimajut nivingavut inisivvingmit, qamutiilu tamaani ilisimallutik iksivaarviuqattarniarmat ammalu pivalliajunik titiraqsimajut tamaani maniqamit illisimagillutik, titiraqsimallutik pinguavigjuarniuniaqtumik aujauliqpat taakkununga KalaaLimiutanut takuksautitaulutik ukiuq 2072 atliqpat. KalaaLimiutat nutaamik tukiqaqtitauliqput. Ukiumit 2068-mit, ulunguaq atuqtauniaqpuq suraksilluni coconut-simik ammalu annuraatuqanginnik pisimalutik naittumik aiqarlutik qaujitittinasuklutik uqquusivalianinganik nuna. AtungikkaluaqLuni qallunaatitut takuksautitaunasungninganik, Silis-Høegh sivuniksamik KalaaLimiutitut nunanganik takuksautittinasukpuq tamanna avatigijanga asijjiqpalialiraluaqtillugu, ukiuqtaqtumiutat piqutigijangit kajusiinnarniaqput. “Piliriqattaqpungali Nunavut takuksautinnasukLugu. Suuqaima tarninnut pisimangmat,” Uqalauqtuq Silis-Høegh pijjutiqaqLuni ilaqammaringninganik nunani sanaugaliuqattarninganik.2 Takuksautittiluni sanauganganik nunlinguangujumik takujagaqarvingmit pingiLunili nunallaringmit takuksautittingiLuni, Silis-Høegh takuksautittimmarikpuq Haveforeningen “Sisimiut” Anno 2068-mit.”

IGLUANIITTUQ & SAUMIANIITTUQ

Maureen Gruben — Taijaujjutiqangituq (Suli sanavalliajanga) (takuksautituajuq) 2022 Qallunaaqtaq Marruuk 8.5 × 17.1 m miita atuni TUNIJAUJUT TUK TIIVINGINNIK © SANAUGALIUQTI

Boundless North

The Answer Is Land

LEFT & ABOVE

Bolatta Silis-Høegh — Haveforeningen “Sisimiut” Anno 2068 2009 Mixed media 16 × 16 m © THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE

Melissa Shaginoff — In Campaign for Acknowledgment (Love in Anchorage) 2020–Present Digital photograph © THE ARTIST

led by Ahtna and Paiute artist Melissa Shaginoff, repurposes scrap wood into land acknowledgments, which are then documented through a series of photos. Carefully hand-painted signs mark Indigenous place names, political statements and lessons in language, held up by their writers in the landscapes they mark. One sign simply reminds, “We are on Indigenous Land.” Another reads, “Sustain Indigenous Knowledge.” “We need to learn by remembering the work that took place on this land; the work of Indigenous people,” explains Shaginoff.3 “It is the key to a sustainable future.” The messages emphasize that Indigenous peoples have long been stewards of the lands they call home. The significance of the signage is directly derived from the landscapes that they mark, reclaiming and respecting the land through poetically scrappy signs that take up space and mark territory in a way that a verbal land acknowledgment could never do. Rájácummá – Kiss from the Border (2017–18) similarly aims to take up space. This project, created by Sámi artists Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti and Outi Pieski, consists of eight lines of poetry scrawled along the Deatnu River valley, where the

Silis-Høegh imagined the Arctic 60 years into the future as a grim depiction of a tropical paradise. A sealskin bikini hangs from the laundry line, a qamutiik reclines as a beach chair and a newspaper is strewn on the grass, advertising the Olympic summer games to be hosted by her homeland in the year 2072. Packed with lush plastic plants, Greenland takes on a new meaning. In 2068, an ulu is used to crack open coconuts and the traditional annoraaq is short-sleeved to accommodate for the new climate. Despite being staged in a gallery, Silis-Høegh locates codified symbols in the kalaallisut futuristic garden to show that even if the environment changes, arctic cultures will continue to flourish and bloom. “I work much more with the feeling of nature. I embody it,” says Silis-Høegh about her connection to land-based art.2 By exhibiting this in a gallery as opposed to staging it out on the actual land, Silis-Høegh is emphasizing Haveforeningen “Sisimiut” Anno 2068’s absurdity. Divorcing this garden from the land underscores its plasticity and accentuates her cries to heed the continually warming Earth. In Campaign for Acknowledgment (2020–Present) takes a more direct approach to warning its audience. This community project,

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

IGLUANIT (SAUMIANIITTUQ) & IGLUANIT (TALIQPIANIITTUQ)

Bolatta Silis-Høegh — Haveforeningen “Sisimiut” Anno 2068 2009 Ajjigiingitut tusagaksalirijiit 16 × 16 miita © SANAUGALIUQTI

ATAANIITTUQ

Melissa Shaginoff — Qaujitittinasuktut ilitarijaunirmut (Naglingniq Ankuritjimit) 2020–Ullumimut tikiutillugu Ajjiliuqtausimajuq © SANAUGALIUQTI

Boundless North

Aviksisimalluni nunallaringanik imaittungaarmigli atungaaliqLuni pinguatuinnarnik kisianili qaujitittinasukpuq nunarjualimaaq uqquusivalialirninganik. Ilitarijausimajumik qaujitittinasukLutik (2020– Ullumimut tikiutillugu) Takuksauttiarniqsauvut tamatuminga qaujitittinasungnirmik inulimaanik. Taana nunalingmiunik pilirangujuq, piliraingulluni Ahtna amalu Paiute Alaaskamiutaulluni sanaugaliuqtimut Melissa Shaginoff-mut , qijuarjungnik atuqLuni suurlu nunaminik qaujitittinasungnirmut, tamale ajjiliuqsimajutigut takuksautitaullutik. Amiaqsimallutiglu takuksautitausimallutik nunaqaqaaqsimajut nunangitta atinginnik, gavamalirinirmut uqausiusimajut ammalu ilinniarutaujut uqausitaqarnik, titiraqtigijanganik pijausimalluni tamakkuninga nunanik nalunaiqtausimajunik. Atausiq iqaijjutaummarikput imaittumik, “nunaqaqaaqsimajut nunaganiipugut.” Asiattauq titiraqsimajuq imailingavut, “nunaqaqqaasimajut qaujimattiarninginnik ikajuqtauttiarialiit.” “Ilinniarqimagiaqaqpugut iqqaumattiarluta piliriangujunik tamaani nunattinni; nunaqaqqaaqsimajut Inuit piliriarijanginnik, qaujitittijuq Shaginoff. 3 “Taimanna sivuniksamut kajusiinnarutaujunnattiarmat.” Uqausiusimajut qaujimajjutauvut tamakkua nunaqaqqaaqsimajut taimannganituqaaluk kamajiunginnarmata nunqutiminik taijaminik angiramik. Atiliurutigisimajanga nalunaiqsimattiaqpuq nunqutigijanganik,

pisimakkanniliqLutiglu ammalu ikpigusuttiaqLutik nunqutiminik tamakkutiguunaq titiraqtausimajutigut nalunaiqsisimallutiglu nunaqutigijanginnik uqausituinnakkut nunaqutigijanginnik titiraqtausimajutigut ajigingittiaqLuniuk. Rájácummá –Kuniktausimajuq nunqutigijaujuup kiglinganik (2017–18) tamannatitut pijausimajuq iniksamik pinirmik. Taanna piliriangujuq, aaqqiktausimajuq taakkununga Saami Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti ammalu Outi Pieski-mut, takuksauniqaqpuq 8-ngujunik titraqsimajunik tamaani Deatnu kuuqutinganik nunaliralaarijaujumik, tamaani kigliqaqput Finland ammalu Norway-mit. Tamanna kigligijanga tamaannippuq Sapmi, nunaqaqqaqsimallutik inugijaullutik Norway-miunut, Finland-miunullu ammalu Swedenmiut ammalu Rasiamiut nunangata ilangani. Tamaani Rájácummá, takuksaungitumit kigligijauvut kisianili takuksautitaulluni unikkanguatigut ingiqattaqtunik ammalu imarmik aviksimajjutaujuq Deatnumit, uvvaluunniit taijaujuq “Kuugjuaq.” “Nunalingmiutanut piliriqattalauqput kigliliuqLutik, ikpinnalauqpuq suurlu nuna titiraqLuni unikkanguanik,” uqalauqpuq Holmberg.5 “Maanaujurli ikpingnaqpuq Rájácummá pigiaqtitaulluni uvattinnut kisianili nangminirijaulluni nunalingmiunut pilirilauqtunut.” TunnganiqaqLuni Saamimiut tukisiumajangittigut pivallianginnaqtumik

The Answer Is Land

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

Rájácummá – Kiss from the Border

land is the question, the answer is land scoop the water along the stream, cut the branches along the grain let the river be the bridge clean water, the sacred song lucky feather as an amulet blessing only take what’s needed the answer is land

gažaldat eana, vástádus eana álo álmmastit miehterávdnjái, miehtemurrii álo njáskat johka ieš min šaldi buhtes čáhci, sáivaluohti leavvedolgi várjalussan buressivdnádus váldit dušše maid dárbbaša vástádus eana

Boundless North

The Answer Is Land

border between Finland and Norway lies. This arbitrary border cuts through Sápmi, spanning the colonial borders of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In Rájácummá, an invisible border line is made visible with poetry markers and juxtaposed by the fluid partition of the Deatnu, or “Great River.” “As local [community members] were involved in the emergence of the lines, it felt as if the land itself was writing the poems,” says Holmberg. 5 “Now it feels like Rájácummá was something started by us but owned by the local communities involved.” Based on a Sámi understanding of sustainable life, the poem encourages people to view land use as an ongoing relationship requiring continual upkeep, care and renewal, reading in Northern Sámi, “gažaldat eana, vástádus eana,” or in English, “land is the question, the answer is land.” In placing an emphasis on viable coexistence and by highlighting the features of the region, Holmberg, Laiti and Pieski open a conversation about land stewardship and self-government by local Sámi people, proposing “equal status for nature and people based on reciprocity and respect.” 6

By creating and sharing artwork on the land, with the land and for the land, all of these artists are redefining what it means to centre an arts career outside of southern metropolises. How do we Northernize the art world? For these artists, the answer is land. Instead of travelling south, circumpolar artists are generating creative solutions by highlighting and exhibiting art on the landscapes around them, representing themselves away from the southern gaze. This resourcefulness and creative ingenuity is what connects northern peoples across the circumpolar region. Art that is made for the North, by the North and with the North is future-building work. — Laura Hodgins is a white settler from Sǫ̀mbak’è in Chief Drygeese Territory (Yellowknife, NT). She is currently studying at Concordia University in Montreal, QC, for a MA in Art History, writing her thesis about the history of art development in the Northwest Territories. As a northerner, Hodgins is passionate about fostering and promoting the arts above the 60th parallel.

ABOVE

OPPOSITE

Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti and Outi Pieski — Rájácummá – Kiss from the Border (the answer is land) 2017–18 Digital photograph

Melissa Shaginoff — In Campaign for Acknowledgment (Ruth in Anchorage) 2020–Present Digital photograph

Melissa Shaginoff — In Campaign for Acknowledgment (Rika in Homer) 2020–Present Digital photograph

NOTES

¹ All quotes from Maureen Gruben, interview with Laura Hodgins, January 2023. ² All quotes from Bolatta Silis-Høegh, interview with Laura Hodgins, February 2023. 3 Excerpt from Melissa Shaginoff’s artist statement, accessed April 2023, melissashaginoff.com/ portfolio. 4 Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti and Outi Pieski, Rájácummá – Kiss from the Border, 2017–2018, outipieski.com/ installations-collages/ kiss-from-the-border/. 5 All quotes from Niillas Holmberg, written correspondence with Laura Hodgins, February 2023. 6 Excerpt from Holmberg, Laiti and Pieski’s artist statement, see note 4 above.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

inuusirmit, unikkaangua suurlu tiliriinnaqpuq inungnik tautuqujillutik nunamik-aturiaqarninginnik tauvungaimaaq ilaginiarmajjuk, kamagittiarlugulu amma pivalliatiinnarlugu, uqalimaaqLuni Saamimiut ungnanganirmiutat uqausingititut “gazaldat eana, vastadus eana” uvalluunniit qallunaatitut, “Nuna apiqqutauvuq, kiujjutaujurli Nuna.” Nunamik pitaqammaringninganik, Holmberg, Laiti ammalu Pieski uqallaqatigiingnirmik matuiqsilauqput pijjutiqaqLutik kamattiarnirmik ammalu nangminiq gavamaqalirlutik taakkununga Saamimiutat inungit, suurlu tuksirarutaulluni “Nunamik nangminiqaqataumariliqLutik ammalu inungit nikagusuttiaqLutik amma ikpigusuttialiqLutik.” 6 Saqitittillutik ammalu sanauganik sanaqatauliqlutik nunammarigijanginniilutik, nunaminik amma nunaminut, taakkua sanaugaliuqtiit nalunaiqsimmaringmata qanuq aaqiksiqattarninginnik sanaugaliuqtaminik qallunaat nunangata silataaniiLutik. Qanurli sanaugaliuqtavut ukiuqtaqtumiutammariuninginnik takuksautititjunnaqpita? Tamakkununga sanaugaliuqtinut, kiujutaujunnaqpuq imanna, Nuna. Qallunaat nunangannut aullangikkaluarlutik, silarjuap ukiuqtaqtuqutinginnirmiut sanaugaliuqtiit sanaugaliuqtaminik qaujititijunarmata nunallarigijanginik upaksimajanginnik sanaugaliuqpaglutik, imminik qaujitittilutik qallunaat nunanganningikkaluarlutik. Pijjutiksaqatiarmata ammalu sanavakLutik inungnut ilagiigutaujunnattiaqtumik tamaani silarjuap ukiuqtaqtuanit nunaqaqtunut. Sanaugaliurniq ukiuqtaqtumiutanut sanajauvakpuq, ukiuqtaqtumit ammalu ukiuqtaqtumut sivuniksarijaulluni sanaqattaqput.

UJJIRIJARIAQAQTUT

¹ Tamarmik uqausiujut Maureen Grubenmut, apiqsuqtaulluni Laura Hodgins-mut January 2023. ² Bolatta Silis-Høegh tamarmik uqausirikkanniqtangit Laura Hodgins-mit apiqsuqtillugu, February 2023. 3 Melissa Shaginoff niruaqtangit uqausirikkanniqLunigillu sanaugaliuqtiup uqausinginnik, April 2023-ngutillugu, melissashaginoff.com/portfolio. 4 Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti ammalu Outi Pieski, Rájácummá – Kuniktausimajuq nunaqutigijaujuup kiglinganik, 2017– 2018, outipieski.com/stallations-collages/ kiss-from-the-border/. 5 Niillas Holmber tamarmik uqausirikkanniqtangit, titiraqtaujuq Laura Hodgins, February 2023. 6 Niruaqtaujuq uvangat Homberg, Laiti ammalu Pieski-mit sanaugaliuqtiup uqausinginnik, takulugu titiraqtausimajut 4-mit qulaanit.

— Laura Hodgins qallunaangulluni nunaqaqpuq Sombakemit tamaaniDrygeesemit Nunattiarmit (Yellowknife-mit, Nunattiarmit). Maannaujuq ilinniaqtitauvuq sanaugaliurnirmit Tavani Concordia Silattuqsarvigjuanganik Montreamit, Quebec-mit, titiraqLuni qanuq sanaugaliurnirmit pivallianiqarnirmik Nunatiarmit. Ukiuqtaqtumiutauluni, Hodgins pijumammarikput qanuq angiglitittigiaqarnirmik sanaugaliuqtinik tamaanirmiutanik ukiuqtaqtumit.

KINGUNIANIITTUQ

Niillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti ammalu Outi Pieski — Rájácummá – Kuniktausimajuq Nunaqutigijaujuup kiglinganik (kiujjutaujuq Nuna) 2017–18 Ajjiliuqtausimajuq © SANAUGALIUQTIXS

IGLUANIITTUQ

Melissa Shaginoff — Qaujitittinasuktut ilitarijaunirmut (Ankuritjimit) 2020–Ullumimut tikiutillugu Ajjiliuqtausimajuq © SANAUGALIUQTI

ATAANIITTUQ

Melissa Shaginoff — Qaujitittinasuktut ilitarijaunirmut (Homumit) 2020–Ullumimut tikiutillugu Ajjiliuqtausimajuq © SANAUGALIUQTI

Boundless North

The Answer Is Land

— by Tanya Lukin Linklater

Words can divide, but they can also connect us. For writer, spoken word poet, artist and curator Taqralik Partridge, these outward expressions of our innermost thoughts build worlds—bridging gaps in location, time and experience. In this Feature, Sugpiaq visual artist, choreographer and writer Tanya Lukin Linklater explores how Partridge’s diverse artistic practices and curatorial work connect Indigenous peoples’ voices from all across the circumpolar North.

Content note: This article contains a brief mention of the homicides of three Indigenous people.

Taqralik Partridge’s practices are in deep relation to Inuit experiences and homelands. As a writer, spoken word poet, throat singer, beadworker, textile artist and curator, she wraps us in voice, song, meaning and in the materials of home. Partridge’s attunement to moments and places are specific, yet evoke a shared sensibility among Inuit across the circumpolar North. Originally from Kuujjuaq, Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunangat), her nuanced approach has inspired movement between places, peoples and projects over two decades. As Iñupiaq and Athabascan multidisciplinary artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs writes, Partridge challenges us “through a more subjective, personal and sensitive way of looking at the world.” 1 In this way, Partridge extends a generosity in her writing, making and curating and brings us in relation. There is something inexplicably sensual about Partridge’s writing that distills traces of shared experience. I find this sensibility strewn about, then delicately placed in her performances, poetry and short stories. It appears in her deep love for Inuit Nunaat—how the

Inuit Art Quarterly

sky, water and land call to those who are away. How she calls us with our senses, evoking colour, sound, smell and the felt—to be touched by impossibly small tundra wildflowers and sunburst berries. Her talk is thick with the lushness of story in the midst of what southerners might perceive as a minimalism of the North—a place that calls her, and she calls home. She writes of the sometime-heartache-living-in-theSouth-longing-for-the-North. She writes with love of the small ones, the grannies, the hunters, the aunties; she writes with love of the lovers. And she loves language. I am moved by the way that she loves and is loved by the places and peoples of Inuit Nunaat. I first encountered Partridge’s writing while teaching at the University of Alberta nearly 20 years ago. I contacted her describing my felt response to her writing and that I had shared it with my students. As I sit at my kitchen table on the phone with her now, she tells me that hearing this encouraged her to continue. “I’ve always been a person who needs to make things. It can be any kind of material, including words,” she explains.2 She is compelled by poetry

Summer 2023

and short stories because in both, entire worlds are built through concision. The crisp economy of language extends to spoken word, which she first encountered in a recording by author and artist Ian Kamau and then at a book launch in Toronto, ON, with performances by Black writers. The form struck her as, “You don’t have to be able to sing, or spell or do good punctuation.” Indeed, she explains, “I make simple things with whatever materials are at hand—words, cloth, beads, unwanted items—because this is what gives me hope.” 3 For Partridge, this is an Inuit way of doing things. When she gave herself the permission to write and perform, a “pouring out” happened and invitations to perform across Canada ensued. Partridge’s love of language traces to her late parents. In early 2022 Partridge wrote, co-directed and performed in a short animation called “Grape Soda in the Parking Lot,” featuring oil-pastel animations by co-director Megan Kyak-Monteith for Christa Couture’s How to Lose Everything series on CBC Gem. Partridge tells us that she is speaking “an accessory to my grief,” and “a memory of his memory,” that centres her parents’ grief of losing their respective ancestral languages—Scottish Gaelic for her mother and Inuktitut for her father, who “found his tongue again, but never lost the taste of English in his mouth.” Partridge asks, “What if as in dreams every language that had been lost to English— every word, every syllable—grew up out of the ground in flowers, flowed around us like rivers and took its place again in the minds and mouths of all its speakers?” 4 This love of Inuk-ness in its many forms extends to Partridge’s visual arts practice. Her textile and beading works in Tusarsauvungaa (2018) are a series made from reindeer antler,

Boundless North

a thermal emergency blanket, coins and river grass among other everyday materials.5 Originally shown at the Biennale of Sydney, Australia, apirsait (2020), a series of glass beadwork panels, are created from dishcloths and scraps of fabric kept from her sewing practice.6 I first encountered these forms in the travelling exhibition ᐊᕙᑖᓂᑦᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᑦᓄᓇᑐᐃᓐᓇᓂᑦ Among All These Tundras (2018–21) curated by Heather Igloliorte, Amy Prouty and Charissa von Harringa, and more recently at Radical Stitch (2022) curated by Sherry Farrell Racette, Michelle Lavallee and Cathy Mattes. In this project and others, Partridge says she is compelled by “materials and subject matter that have meaning in the lives of Inuit women.” Partridge translates a specificity through this materiality that unfolds meaning. The shape in these artworks is based on the beadwork found on amautiit. She explains that different regions have specific ornate designs, yet the form encourages an ethic of autonomy allowing the beadworker to choose how to approach the design on the “almost-kidney shape.” Practically, this scale allows for Partridge to complete the artworks at home or as she travels. Through these projects she investigates abstraction, and enacts repetition, multiples and iterations, which she describes as “looking at the same thing from a different angle.” These limitations—in scale or form—allow her to “get somewhere new.” Partridge’s love of Inuit textile forms and garments extends to the amauti itself. Her amautiit made of canvas, newspaper, tarp and hula hoops address the complexity of Inuit material and intangible cultural practices that have endured for multiple millennia despite ongoing attempts to dismantle them.

Installation view of Taqralik Partridge’s untitled 2020 work for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, AU COURTESY ARTSPACE PHOTO ZAN WIMBERLEY ALL © THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE

Taqralik Partridge performing spoken word at The Guelph Lecture—On Being, 2020 COURTESY MUSAGETES

BELLOW

Taqralik Partridge — apirsait 2020 Mixed media Dimensions variable COURTESY MACKENZIE ART GALLERY PHOTO DON HALL

Taqralik Partridge: Of Minds & Mouths

These unworn garments titled Build My Own Home (2021) were installed at Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, ON, in 2021 and Mimosa House in London, UK, in 2022 as part of The Baroness Elsa Project touring exhibition. They gesture towards a sense of “‘homefulness,’ while signalling the precarity and homelessness many Inuit face.” 7 For several years, Partridge served as the Communications Director for the Avataq Cultural Institute, the Inuit cultural organization of Nunavik. During this time she honed her writing skills in service to community, culture and language in alignment with Avataq’s mission. She contributed to fundraising activities, events and worked with collections, skills she later utilized as a curator.

Inuit Art Quarterly

In 2018, while living abroad in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Sápmi (Norway) she guest co-curated her first exhibition at Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak. It was the first time Inuit art was showcased in the AGO’s largest exhibition space. She went on to co-curate the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s first major Indigenous-led exhibition, ᐊᖏᕐᕋᒧᑦ / Ruovttu Guvlui / Towards Home (2022–2023), and ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ | Qautamaat (2022) at the Art Gallery of Guelph. As an artist and curator she has worked with Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Sissel M. Bergh, Tarralik Duffy, Heather Igloliorte, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Maureen Gruben, Wanda Nanibush, Joar Nango, Jocelyn Piirainen, Katherine Takpannie and Ningiukulu Teevee, among others.

Summer 2023

LEFT

Taqralik Partridge — Build My Own Home 2021 Tyvek, canvas, newsprint, tarpaulin, hula hoops, thread, dental floss, synthetic sinew and silver teaspoons. Dimensions variable COURTESY MIMOSA HOUSE PHOTO ROB HARRIS

Partridge is compelled by the collaborative work involved in curation. As a fellow artist, she wants to understand how artists want their work and themselves to be represented. These conversations translate into her advocacy, described by Kelliher-Combs as “selfless commitment, support, belief and voice,” which allow “others to be heard. Her curatorial work bridges geographic boundaries.” 8 Today, as the inaugural Associate Curator, Indigenous Art – Inuit Art Focus at the AGO, where she was hired in 2022, she views her work as being in service to Inuit of all regions. She intends to “lay the groundwork for future Inuit curators or community members to access their cultural objects and creative work in ways that they want to access them.” This

Boundless North

includes acquiring works by Inuit artists for the AGO’s permanent collection. I sense this ethos in Partridge’s work broadly. She explains, “On my mind is how can I be in service to my community? To Inuit? And in solidarity with other Indigenous people as well?” She recalls that one of her dearest friends since childhood is from Standing Rock, a place of prairie and plains, the homelands of the Dakota and Lakota that extends to the Missouri River. As a teenager, Partridge visited her friend in their homelands during significant cultural events. This was one of many formative experiences that affected her thinking and writing. In her trilingual book of poetry, curved against the hull of a peterhead (2020), Partridge addresses our collective grief at the violence against

Taqralik Partridge: Of Minds & Mouths

What if… what if as in dreams every language that had been lost to English—every word, every syllable—grew up out of the ground in flowers, flowed around us like rivers and took its place again in the minds and mouths of all its speakers? What if it danced across pages, and in movies, and love stories and even on everyday things, like toaster manuals? What if we relearned all the terms for ideas that English does not understand?

ABOVE

Stills and excerpt from “Grape Soda in the Parking Lot,” written and narrated by Taqralik Partridge, illustrated by Megan Kyak-Monteith and co-directed by Partridge and Kyak-Monteith for Christa Couture’s How to Lose Everything series for CBC Gem, 2022, 7 min 53 sec COURTESY CHRISTA COUTURE

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

Colten Boushie, Loretta Saunders and Cindy Gladue. The foreword by Elwood Jimmy describes Partridge’s body of work: “oral, written and visual culture, Taqralik’s work embodies and offers a subtle yet richly layered sensibility and perspective of the sometimes painful and paradoxical complexities we collectively encounter and experience.” Jimmy proposes that her poetry gives “nourishment in times of uncertainty, in times of grieving, as well as in the everyday.” 9 Partridge and I finally met in person in Ottawa in fall 2021, when she was the inaugural Director of the Nordic Lab at SAW developing remote artist residencies while building sustained relationships with Indigenous artists from across the circumpolar North. We visited ᐊᓚᒃᑳᔪᑦ Alakkaajut (Many Things Appear), a 2021–22 exhibition that she curated with works by Kelliher-Combs, Gruben and Bergh. Partridge described the exhibition as a meditation on “multiples that belong to each other . . . a moment to ask what is the value of a word, a thought, a movement completed many times.” 10 I marvelled at the discarded, the embroidered, the floral, the found, the secrets, the sewn, the sorrow. The distinct material languages of each artist’s respective homelands became singular gestures evoking insistence. Each insistence placed in conversation with another, calling forward

histories and homelands that exceed the gallery. Before we left, Partridge gifted me dazzling earrings made of red and black beaded geometries and nanuq fur tufts longer than my fingers— dramatic. I held these small treasures in my hands delighted to meet her after decades of admiration from afar. As we talk now on the phone, she shares that her Saunik or Atiq (namesake) is Tagalik Curley. “She lived a lot of hardship in her life, but from what everyone tells me she was very generous and kind,” she says. “I try to honour her name as much as I can because we say that in a way we are that person, or we try to aspire to be the best of what that person was.” Partridge is a part of a lineage of Inuit women, always making, always in relation. She does not write, sew, or curate to establish herself in a canon. She accepts the ephemerality of her practice—that her artworks, writing, and performances arrive in the world and that they may fade away. In this approach I notice her humility, which she acknowledges is partly an Inuit ethic. — Tanya Lukin Linklater is a Sugpiaq artist and writer from the Native Villages of Afognak and Port Lions in Alaska. Based in Ontario, she is completing her PhD in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University.

NOTES

¹ Quote from Sonya Kelliher-Combs, personal communication, April 8, 2023. ² Unless otherwise noted, all quotes from Taqralik Partridge in conversation with Tanya Lukin Linklater, March 6, 2023. 3 “Taqralik Partridge,” 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020) participants, Biennale of Sydney, accessed May 15, 2023, biennaleofsydney.art/ participants/taqralikpartridge/. 4 Taqralik Partridge, “Grape Soda in the Parking Lot,” in How to Lose Everything, produced by Christa Couture and Michelle St. John, CBC Gem, 2022, video, 7:53, gem.cbc.ca/how-tolose-everything. 5 Heather Igloliorte, Amy Dickson, and Charissa von Harringa. Among all these tundras. Toronto: OCAD University, 2019. Exhibition catalogue, openresearch.ocadu.ca/ id/eprint/2890/. 6 See note 3 above. 7 “Artwork Descriptions,” detailed descriptions of artwork in the group exhibition The Baroness, Mimosa House, accessed May 15, 2023, static1. squarespace.com/ 9f07f57a59258fe5/t/ 628d12a857a3084f9 92a029d/16534 12539413/. 8 See note 1 above. 9 Elwood Jimmy, foreword to curved against the hull of a peterhead (Guelph: Publication Studio, 2020), 9. 10 “ᐊᓚᒃᑳᔪᑦ Alakkaajut (Many Things Appear),” exhibition details, SAW, accessed May 15, 2023, saw-centre.com/ archives/alakkaajutmany-things-appear.

LEFT

Installation view of ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ | Qautamaat, a 2022 exhibition curated by Taqralik Partridge at Art Gallery of Guelph COURTESY ART GALLERY OF GUELPH

Boundless North

Taqralik Partridge: Of Minds & Mouths

Generational Gifts Circumpolar Indigenous artists on iconic figures from their regions

— by Malayah Enooyah Maloney

Each region of the circumpolar North has its trailblazers: the game-changing artists that have led major cultural conversations and made historic contributions to the artistic landscapes of their regions. For each of the five areas represented, Malayah Enooyah Maloney interviewed artists about their own practices and their thoughts on a legacy artist’s impact.

What connects Indigenous art across the circumpolar North? Throughout the Arctic, Indigenous artists are using their art to centre interdependence between people, politics and the natural world, by embodying generations of cultural knowledge and advocacy efforts towards Indigenous rights. The North is our home, and the art emerging from the land, oral histories and our collective advocacy for the land and people is hugely important in protecting Indigenous ontologies. Many outstanding artists and knowledge keepers have had lasting impacts on generations of circumpolar Indigenous peoples. To recognize those whose artistic legacies have paved the way for artists today, we conducted interviews with one artist from each region: Alaska, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and the areas of Sápmi that currently fall within Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish borders.

We spoke to artists working across various mediums and asked them to speak about the legacy of an artist in their region who has shaped artistic practice as well as how those artists have contributed to advocacy for cultural rights and access to the land and natural resources. Each artist we interviewed touched on the legacy artist’s physical and spiritual relationship with the land and how it impacts the continuation of Indigenous art from the North. And while each circumpolar region is affected by its own political context, the artistic legacies emerging from them are not bound by borders. They bridge and redefine boundaries, traversing oceans from nation to nation. Today, those whose contributions have uplifted contemporary Indigenous artists continue to encourage decolonial conversations and influence the future of artistic methodologies.

Susie Bevins-Ericsen INUIT NUNAAT (ALASKA)

Sonya Kelliher-Combs was first introduced to the work of Susie Bevins-Ericsen as an undergraduate student in the Native Arts Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “I was moved by her strength and determination to both challenge and enrich the lives of her audience and fellow artists,” says Kelliher-Combs. Impressed by how Bevins-Ericsen confronted social norms, Kelliher-Combs drew inspiration from how she “pressed the boundaries of what was considered traditional in the Alaska Native art field. She employed found objects, new materials and challenging subject matter.” Bevins-Ericsen, known as Qimmiqsak in Iñupiaq, was born at Beechey Point, Inuit Nunaat (Alaska), a remote trading post operated by her father, the late Jack W. Smith. After his passing, Bevins-Ericsen then moved to the village of Utqiaqvik, formerly known as Barrow, where, as Kelliher-Combs describes, “She grew up much like her ancestors: living on the land hunting, fishing and harvesting what was needed,” eventually moving to Anchorage, Alaska, where she was taught English in public school. A deep connection to Iñupiat culture has always informed Bevins-Ericsen’s work, which rose to prominence with the commissioning of numerous public sculptures throughout the 1980s and ’90s. Alongside her innovative sculptural practice, part of Bevins-Ericsen’s legacy has been her advocacy. As Kelliher-Combs says, “She has been a tireless arts advocate, serving on numerous committees, boards and has been a teacher and mentor, impacting the lives of countless young people.”

Sonya Kelliher-Combs

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Sonya Kelliher-Combs is an Iñupiaq/Athabascan mixed-media visual artist with family roots in the North Slope and Interior Alaska. Her work is manifold. Visually, she connects intergenerational knowledge with material histories to make art that is informed by her culture and experience as an Indigenous woman. Throughout her work in curation, community engagement and advocacy, she seeks to create opportunities to feature Indigenous voices. Kelliher-Combs regularly examines the connections between Western and Indigenous cultures, by creating opportunities to share the experiences and skills of other artists also navigating between the two cultures. Much of her work draws from legacies of traditional women’s work and she builds new personal symbolisms from these legacies, establishing a unique visual language that is deeply tied to materials such as fur, hide, wool, walrus gut, wax and thread. An artist who has shown widely across the United States and internationally, Kelliher-Combs is also the recipient of numerous fellowships. Invited by Susie-Bevins Ericsen, Kelliher-Combs was also a founding board member of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation.

OPPOSITE

Susie Bevins-Ericsen — Last Dive 1991 Aluminum, wood and wool yarn 51 × 40 × 65 cm COURTESY NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION © THE ARTIST

Summer 2023

Boundless North

Generational Gifts

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

Anne-Birthe Hove INUIT NUNAAT (KALAALLIT NUNAAT)

Artists and the land are inherently interconnected. The land is part of what feeds creativity. All of this is evident in artworks like the lithographs of Sermitsiaq (an island mountain northeast of Nuuk, Inuit Nunaat (Kalaallit Nunaat) by late Kalaaleq artist Anne-Birthe Hove (1951–2012) whom Lisbeth Karline Poulsen identifies as a key figure in the region. As a graphic artist, Hove used various techniques to translate the meaning of significant landmarks and the challenges they face as spiritual beings affected by the changing world. The symbolic meaning behind her practice lies within the framework that there is a direction we are all headed in and, while uncertain, there are many ways of tackling historical and contemporary challenges. Beyond her artistic work, one of Hove’s major achievements has been collective: she was a co-founder and an early leader of KIMIK, the Association of Artists in Greenland. “There were a lot of amazing women who went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark because we were not able to study fine arts in Kalaallit Nunaat. Anne-Birthe Hove was one of them, and so was Arnannguaq Høegh,” Poulsen explains. Led by a desire to create a stronger platform for fine arts in Kalaallit Nunaat, Hove, Buuti Pedersen, Miki Jacobsen and Jessie Kleemann founded KIMIK in 1995. The group serves multiple functions: operating a studio and workshop in Nuuk, acting as an artist union and as an organizer for exhibitions. Like Poulsen says, “It is lonely to do art,” but both Poulsen and Hove have shown us that there are whole communities standing behind each artwork, filled with truths and layered understandings of our connection to each other.

Lisbeth Karline Poulsen

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Boundless North

Lisbeth Karline Poulsen is a multitalented Kalaaleq artist and mother of two who is active in KIMIK, an association of artists from across Kalaallit Nunaat. Poulsen’s artistic works often address the complexity of a mixed-Indigenous heritage, including the complexities of identity, womanhood, city life and many forms of artistic expression such as theatre, textile art and photography. With this background, Poulsen creates art that ties itself with everyday life, cultural identity and the historical connection between Kalaallit Nunaat and Denmark. Poulsen considers herself a mediator for her art and, in our interview, she emphasized that her art is meant to be shared: it is an exploration meant to be accessible for everybody. For Poulsen, art is constantly being informed by everyday life; art is an energy that never dies. For Inuit, this energy is called Inua—the accumulative spirit of our environments, ways of life and our self-expressions.

OPPOSITE (TOP)

Anne-Birthe Hove — Five Letters 2007 Lithography 50.7 × 68.9 cm COURTESY NUUK KUNSTMUSEUM ALL PHOTO CEBASTIAN ROSING ALL © THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE (BOTTOM)

Five Letters 2007 Lithography 53 × 71.4 cm COURTESY NUUK KUNSTMUSEUM

Generational Gifts

Hans Ragnar Mathisen SÁPMI (NORWAY)

“In the ’60s and ’70s, artists in the Mázejoavku (a collective of Sámi artists based in the village of Máze, Sápmi [Norway]) were challenging very colonial notions of what art was,” Liisa-Rávná Finbog explains. “Hans Ragnar Mathisen was one of the artists within the Máze group that hasn’t always been recognized. One of his major projects was to take on the role of the cartographer—to go out and remake maps of the Sámi homeland.” Mathisen created maps that integrated Indigenous languages and land-based knowledges, and illustrated tensions between human- and non-human relations. “Today when people talk about Hans Ragnar, they mostly think about the maps—which are absolutely awesome!—but he is one of those amazing artists, who has done everything from oil paintings to watercolours to carvings.” Mathisen has also been very politically active throughout his life, providing friendship and mentorship to young Sámi activists, including Finbog herself. She recalls, “He would come to political events with his art and he would try to sell it. It is a bit funny because there is an idea that something is only really good art if it’s not accessible to the common people.” But according to Finbog, some of Mathisen’s most powerful work has come in the later years of his career, in the form of bookworks. “Sámi language is a very verbal language in the sense that it is focuses on process as opposed to the final result, unlike English, which focused on nouns. In Sámi literary traditions, the spoken word and art have been the biggest ways that we have documented, shared and transferred knowledge. Hans Ragnar’s books are in the space in between these two different traditions, but traditions that are equally literary. I don’t know if people really understand the importance of this yet—there is something really beautiful about what he is doing, but it’s also incredibly profound.”

Liisa-Rávná Finbog

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Liisa-Rávná Finbog, a Sámi scholar and duojár (craftsperson) from Oslo, Vaapste and Skánit in Sápmi (Norway), navigates what it means to be Indigenous in connection with the dynamics between fine art and politics in her work. Also the co-curator of the first ever Sámi Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, Finbog is deeply invested in Sámi methodologies, a theme she highlighted in our interview with personal stories about spending time with her grandmother on the land. As in many Indigenous cultures, there are certain Sámi teachings that are passed down generationally that are not currently represented in academia. These teachings are often directly related to the ways we recognize those who lived before us. Finbog describes this relationship as “growing up with the understanding of art and what aesthetics are,” indicating that this is key to the continuation of Indigenous knowledge. This understanding is fundamental to her practice now—whether it be in the arts, in academic institutions or in activist struggles for Sámi sovereignty.

Summer 2023

ABOVE

Hans Ragnar Mathisen — Tacitus ’98 A.D/Goahti 1998 Woodcut and monoprint 55 × 62 cm COURTESY RIDDODUOTTARMUSEAT PHOTO MICHAEL MILLER © THE ARTIST / VISUAL ARTS-CARCCGREETINGS

Boundless North

Generational Gifts

ABOVE (TOP)

Katarina Pirak Sikku — Suojehis ruoktu | Defenseless home 2015 Digital photograph PHOTO MÁRIDJÁ PIRAK SIKKU ALL © THE ARTIST

ABOVE (BOTTOM)

Photos from Katarina Pirak Sikku's series Agálaččat bivttastuvvon sohkagotti ivnniiguin, Ihkát ájttegij bájnoj gárvodum, För evigt klädda i ättens färger, Ihkuven aajkan maadtoej klaeriejgujmie gåårveldihkie (Perpetually Wound in the Colours of the Ancestors) (2021) on display at the exhibition Hurting and Healing: Let's Imagine a Different Heritage, at Tensta kontshall, Stockholm, Sweden, 2022 PHOTO JEAN-BAPTISTE BÉRANGER

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

Katarina Pirak Sikku SÁPMI (SWEDEN)

In speaking about artists whose legacies have been influential, Monica L Edmondson explains: “What inspires me is really the work of the hand of previous generations and I struggle to pinpoint one single artist’s work. If I’m working with textile, then I might look at Britta Marakatt–Labba. If I am working on sculpture, I look at Ingunn Utsi or Annelise Josefsen. I would also like to mention the importance of art by Anders Sunna. Craftwork, music, film and literature is very close to the field of visual art. I really think it is a non-Indigenous way of thinking to divide our ways of expressing ourselves into different categories and fields of art.” Edmondson conscientiously notes Katarina Pirak Sikku as a trailblazing figure in the part of Sápmi that currently falls within Swedish borders. Pirak Sikku’s artistic practice often concerns Swedish racial biology as it affects generations of Sámi people. As a photographer, illustrator and installation artist, Pirak Sikku intertwines her work with historical facts and texts to enact her own sense of activism both personally and in the public realm. Part of her research entails analyzing Swedish cartography and responding from a Sámi perspective, carefully examining visual elements of her culture to gain a better understanding of how her people came to be, and mapping her family’s lands based on local knowledge. In her work, Pirak Sikku is represents how Sámi people are connected to the land, supported with oral histories that are passed down within each family—marking the permanence Indigenous people have with the natural world and the practices that sustain it. The marriage of contemporary artistic practices with traditional knowledge and ongoing political concerns makes Pirak Sikku as inspirational artist.

Monica L Edmondson

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Boundless North

Monica L Edmondson is a distinguished Sámi glass artist based in Sápmi (Sweden). She completed her visual arts degree in Australia in 1999, and she has worked in art ever since, exhibiting worldwide. Edmondson often collaborates with architects and other artists to fully engage the public with her practices, especially in projects exploring coexisting notions of fragility and strength for Sámi people in Northern Europe. “We all need to raise awareness of our people and our issues,” Edmondson says, referring to Sámi identity in both a social and political sense. All her work is made with Sámi identity present and she aims to tell stories that evoke curiosity about her culture and people, presenting work in public spaces but also honouring practices that “might not be visible to everyone.” Across all of Edmondson’s work the act of looking at art, creating it and sharing it involves a high level of care and gratitude for materials, artists and generational knowledge.

Generational Gifts

Áillohas SÁPMI (FINLAND)

Anniina Turunen describes Áillohaš (1943–2001), as a significant artist “that has always been there,” recalling fondly seeing his books on her grandparents’ bookshelves as a kid. Áillohaš was a philosopher, poet, painter, joiker (traditional Sámi singer), composer and actor in films—as she says, “a rockstar” of Sámi art, who has opened many doors for Sámi artists today. Áillohaš is well known for his poetry collection, Beaivi, áhčáčan (1988), meaning “The Sun, My Father,” for which he received the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1991, but Turunen also points to his 1971 pamphlet, Terveisiä Lapista, meaning “Greetings from Sápmi,”—which championed Sámi rights in the face of cultural erasure and articulated a philosophy of life that rejects separations between different forms of art—as an influential work. Áillohaš’s impact on Sámi art has been immense: from participating in the revitalization of joik, to contributing to Indigenous philosophy, to acting as an ambassador and advocate for Sámi culture through establishing artist and writers’ unions and festivals. Reflecting on Áillohaš’s legacy, and the impact of the generation of Sámi artists who rose to prominence in the 1970s, Turunen notes a major lesson: “Be more playful with the materials,” because then, “You can be creative, open. There isn’t a certain way where, when you work like this, then you’re a Sámi artist.” Áillohaš was also known as a mentor, teacher and advocate for young Sámi artists—and his influence persists. His rejection of artistic categories and embrace of experimental work that traverses art and politics has also influenced the advice Turunen gives to her students: “You’re never ready. You don’t have to be ready. You can experiment as much as you want and develop your skills.” Áillohaš’s legacy of reviving Sámi culture both influences new work and brings back older traditions to be celebrated and honoured.

Anniina Turunen

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Multidisciplinary artist Anniina Turunen embraces natural and human-made materials in her wide-ranging textile practice, which integrates traditional Sámi craft techniques, weaving, silkscreen printing, museum research, poetry and political activism. Also a lecturer in duodji at the Sámi Education Institute in Inari, Sápmi (Finland), Turunen identifies herself as a duojár, explaining that duodji encompasses “not just art, and not just handmade items to be in use. It’s everything.” She emphasizes the expansiveness of duodji, saying, “It’s your mind, and your hands, and ancestors, and what you’re doing and the future. Everything is related. It’s also about the material—how you work with it.” Much of Turunen’s work, which often reflects on issues like climate change and rights to the Sámi homeland, builds on the work of earlier generations of textile artists, duojárs and activists. In 2022, Turunen participated in The Vuogas Way: Sániidkeahtta hállát, a project launched by the Lassagammi Foundation that premiered at the Markomeannu Festival and which reflected on Áillohaš’s legacy and design philosophy.

Summer 2023

OPENER

Áillohaš (Nils-Aslak Valkeapää) — Árvalus Ruoktu Váimmus (sketch for Treckways of the Wind) 1983–84 Pencil 17.5 × 39.5 cm COURTESY STIFTELSEN LÁSSÁGÁMMI / LÁSSÁGÁMMI FOUNDATION PHOTO ØYSTEIN THORVALDSEN ALL © THE ARTIST

LEFT

Untitled (Triptych) 1987 Acrylic 160 × 120 cm each COURTESY STIFTELSEN LÁSSÁGÁMMI / LÁSSÁGÁMMI FOUNDATION PHOTO SUSANNE HÆTTA

Editor’s Note: While the IAQ has a long history of bringing together emerging, established and legacy artists from the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut, our coverage of intergenerational artistic relationships outside of Canada has been limited. For this reason, when working with Maloney on this piece we asked her to focus on speaking with artists based in the five regions you see here.

— Malayah Enooyah Maloney is originally from the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut, with maternal roots in Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunangat), and paternal roots in Cape Breton, NS. Her personal artistic work primarily includes textiles, photography and hand-poke tattooing. Maloney is currently pursuing a BA in First Nations and Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia, located on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Maloney is most inspired by teachings gifted to her by friends, family and mentors who have supported her growth as a young arts professional and emerging multidisciplinary artist.

Boundless North

Generational Gifts

Until July 16, 2023

ᐃᓗᒻᒧᑦ ᑕᑯᓂᐊᕐᓂᖅ LOOKING INSIDE An exhibition exploring Inuit interiors and life in the North

1356 Sherbrooke St. W. Montreal (QC) H3G 1J1 laguilde.com Follow us @LaGuildeMTL

Work by Shuvinai Ashoona, 2008-2009.

Wholesaling Inuit art since 1967

Lucassie Echalook

lvy wvl

“This man got an otter and is joyful. Otters are rarely caught because they dwell in rivers and are hard to hunt."

bN Xusgg[i xoxog bfx wMixl W/sh fuhAmb xJNh riExu

19950 Clark Graham Ave. Baie-D’Urfé, QC H9X 3R8

514-457-9371 www.artnunavik.ca

Inuit Art Quarterly

Summer 2023

August 19 — September 17, 2023 Born in the North • Ethel Brown • K. Jake Chakasim Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde • Wally Dion Jerry Evans • Letitia Fraser • Billy Gauthier Glenn Gear • Cynthia G.Renard • Erin Hunt Don Kwan • SK Maston • Shirley Moorhouse Shelley Niro • Shawn O’Hagan • Mary Ann Penashue Sarah Prosper • Megan Samms • Anastasia Tiller Miya Turnbull • Couzyn van Heuvelen • Jessica Winters

Experience contemporary art on the Bonavista Peninsula. Over 20 unique sites along a 165-km route. The entire Biennale is free and open to all. For more information visit bonavistabiennale.com

ᑕᕐᕿᑕᒫᑦ tarqitamaat.ca

artist of the month of may Kayla-Jazz Annanak-Lauzon Kayla-Jazz Annanak-Lauzon, Silapaaq, 2023

Boundless North

Back

CURATORIAL NOTES

Atlantikumi Nuuk Kunstmuseum OCTOBER 28, 2020–JANUARY 31, 2021 NUUK, INUIT NUNAAT (KALAALLIT NUNAAT)

Content note: This article contains a brief mention of the transatlantic slave trade.

After closing a show of historical paintings in 2017, the Nuuk Kunstmuseum team began thinking about how expedition travel across water has been traditionally represented in arctic art. “In our collection and in many others, you only ever see the destinations, but they might have been travelling on the boats longer,” says Director Nivi Christensen. “There is also the role water played in Denmark colonizing (Kalaallit Nunaat) Greenland and other former Danish colonies.” Interrogating this idea of the sea as “in between” became the starting point for Nuuk Kunstmuseum’s 2021 exhibition Atlantikumi, meaning “In the Atlantic,” which features older and newly commissioned works by Kalaaleq performance artist Jessie Kleemann and Danish-Trinidadian artist Jeannette Ehlers, alongside pieces by the late Kalaaleq and Danish visual artist Pia Arke (1958–2007). Set against the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, all three artists examine the political repercussions of colonialism and its effects on personal identity and history-making. Here, Christensen takes Inuit Art Quarterly behind the scenes of Atlantikumi, which she considers to be one of her favourite exhibitions since arriving at Nuuk Kunstmuseum eight years ago. Inuit Art Quarterly

ABOVE

OPPOSITE (LEFT TOP)

Jeannette Ehlers — Waves (still) 2009 Video installation Dimensions variable OPPOSITE (RIGHT)

Jessie Kleemann — Kinaasunga (stills) 1988 Video installation Dimensions variable OPPOSITE (LEFT BOTTOM)

Pia Arke — Old School Map (2) 1992 Pencil, parchment paper and North Atlantic map 64.5 × 47.2 cm

Summer 2023

CURATORIAL NOTES

individuals. The two artists present really wanted to work together and were very honoured to be in the same room as Pia Arke. It was all about bringing those three artists together. We know that Jeannette is reflecting on Pia’s work. And from now on, she and Jessie will be reflecting on each other’s work. What mood did you want to evoke? We wanted the feeling of the ocean. It doesn’t fit with the idea of the Atlantic to have works close to each other— we wanted the space to feel very big, very airy and light.

How did you approach the artists? We started with discussions on coloniality, the meaning of water, the meaning of being and of not being one thing or another. Then we asked, “What would happen if you placed yourself in the Atlantic Ocean?” Were you surprised by their responses? Many of the artists’ previous works fit within the narrative but it was still surprising that this theme really resonated with them personally. Did the artists see connections between their practices? Yes, but not only with the works, but also as

Jeannette Ehlers Waves (2009) This video felt almost as if the Atlantic Ocean was flooding the space. It was installed on a full wall with three projectors covering floor to ceiling. The sounds from the waves were bold and overwhelming. On the opposite side, we had Kleemann’s video where she is crawling up on the bay, which was installed with a tonne of sand on the floor. The sounds from the two pieces mixed together, influencing the many ways to experience the show.

Jessie Kleemann Kinaasunga (1988)

Pia Arke Old School Map (2) (1992)

This is possibly the first-ever video piece produced in Kalaallit Nunaat but it had never been shown here. We wanted to include it because this exhibition explored the personal side of being “in between”—who am I and who am I in the context of two or three different countries—which is what Kleemann was exploring in ’88.

There was a solo exhibition of Pia Arke’s work happening at the same time and so there were many pieces we would have liked to use that we couldn’t. We tried to borrow this one, where she drew on an old-school map the colonial trading routes between Kalaallit Nunaat and the Caribbean (documenting the triangular Atlantic slave trade.) We knew this piece captured the feeling that we wanted. In my mind, this piece is still part of the exhibition. Afterwards we purchased it and now it’s a part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Boundless North

To read more about the exhibition’s artists, inuitartfoundation.org/ Atlantikumi 67

Back

"Two Singers and Singer of Old” 2023 Weathered whale vertebra, African wonderstone See our online exhibition of recent Manasies Manasie Akpaliapik (1955 - ) of Ikpiarjuk, Nunavut & Ontario h: 14.25” x w: 19.0” x d: 9.0”

Visit us online: · Expert Appraisal · Online Gallery · Consignment · Purchase

proofing 2023

Ningiukulu Teevee

Le Studio PM

studiopmmontreal@gmail.com

NUNAVUT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Bringing art & people together

PAUOJOUNGIE SAGGIAK Adorned Walruses 61 x 74 cm Kenojuak Ashevak, Spirits at Play, 2012

2023 SUMMER RELEASE

@NunavutD Unit #4 – 6675 Millcreek Drive, Mississauga, ON L5N 5M4 905.542.3274 Toll Free: 1.800.509.9153 | www.ndcorp.nu.ca

engravings & etchings

dorsetfinearts.com

Owl by Killiktee Killiktee

iaqad2019_converted.indd 1

Inuit Art Quarterly

2023-04-20 12:23 PM

Summer 2023

Bring the world of Inuit art home. Subscribe Today! Save 64% off the cover price: inuitartfoundation.org/subscribe

Specializing in Inuit Art since 1963

It’s OWL That! Gallery & Studio

Shaman Transforming by Qaqasiralaq Kullualik, Pangnirtung

Agile Fox by Quvianktuk Pudlat Cape Dorset 2019

83 Sparks St. Mall • Ottawa, ON

www.inuitartprint.com

Boundless North

snowgoose.ca | 613-232-2213 | info@snowgoose.ca

Back

NEWS

Updates and highlights from the world of Inuit art and culture

LEFT

RIGHT (TOP)

RIGHT (BOTTOM)

Robert Kautuk Sea Ice Break Up (2019) mural at Onsite Gallery in Toronto, ON

Clockwise from top left: Billy Gauthier, Maureen Gruben, Ningiukulu Teevee, Kablusiak and Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona

Installation view of Regeneration | Piguttaugiallavalliajuk | Ussanitauten: Seven Northern Labrador Photographers (2021) at Bonavista Biennale

COURTESY THE ARTISTS

Inuit Comedy To Become Netﬂix Series

Robert Kautuk Mural Unveiled at Onsite Gallery Photographer Robert Kautuk’s mural Sea Ice Break Up (2019) was installed at OCAD University’s Onsite Gallery in Toronto, ON, in early April as part of the Up Front: Inuit Public Art at Onsite Gallery initiative. The series features commissioned digital murals by Inuit artists displayed on the exterior wall of the gallery. Kautuk’s aerial photograph is the third installment of the Up Front murals, which have included works by Kablusiak and Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk to date. The two-year program, which began in spring 2022, was made possible through a partnership between Onsite Gallery at OCAD University and the Inuit Art Foundation and with the support from the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnership Fund and the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts.

Netflix, CBC and APTN have commissioned a new comedy series to be filmed in Nunavut. Inuit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril of Red Marrow Media are executive producers for the new untitled show. In a statement Aglok MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril say, “This series is full of stories that come straight from our hearts and our funny bones.” The filmmakers recently produced the groundbreaking film Twice Colonized (2023), which opened the 2023 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto, ON, after premiering internationally on January 23, 2023, at the Sundance Film Festival.

Filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, OC, ONu, has has been honoured with the 2022 Commissioner’s Art Award by Nunavut Commissioner Eva Ariak. The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize. Kunuk is known for films such as Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) and his representation as the Canadian headline artist at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Kunuk received the prize in recognition of his decades-long career as a filmmaker, which began with a position as an interviewer for the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and has culminated with him as the head of Iglulik-based production company Isuma Productions. Kunuk humbly noted that “It’s not just me, I have a whole team working with me.” 1 NOTES

¹ Quote from Zacharias Kunuk, interview with Trevor Wright, Nunavut News, March 2023.

Inuit Art Quarterly

The IAF Congratulates the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award Shortlist On May 19, the Inuit Art Foundation announced the five shortlisted artists for the 2023 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award (KAMA). They are: Billy Gauthier Maureen Gruben Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona Kablusiak Ningiukulu Teevee

Still from Twice Colonized (2023) featuring Aaju Peter

Zacharaias Kunuk Wins Annual Nunavut Commissioner’s Art Award

2023 KAMA Shortlist

COURTESY ÁNORÂK FILM

Kablusiak Named on Sobey Art Award Longlist Inuvialuk artist Kablusiak has been longlisted for the 2023 Sobey Art Award in the Prairies/North category and will receive $10,000 along with 24 other longlisted artists from across Canada. This is Kablusiak’s second time on the Sobey Art Award longlist; they were shortlisted for the award in 2019. The shortlist will be announced June 7 with the winner revealed November 18. All five shortlisted artists will have their work appear in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ontario in the fall. In a statement, Jonathan Shaughnessy, Director of Curatorial Initiatives at the NGC and the 2023 Jury Chair, says the award “brings well-deserved national and international recognition to many of this country’s most thoughtful and innovative artistic voices.” 70

Each of the five artists receives a cash prize of $5,000 and has their work showcased in Anaanatta Unikkaangit (Our Mother’s Stories), an exhibition dedicated to the KAMA finalists, which opened May 19 at Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq. The winner will be announced at WAG-Qaumajuq on September 22, at the opening of Gasoline Rainbows, the solo show of 2021 KAMA winner Tarralik Duffy, which will feature textiles, pop art and new works created for the show.

Want More Inuit Art News? Read about the Inuit artists featured at this summer’s Bonavista Biennale!

Get all the news, faster at: inuitartfoundation.org/news Summer 2023

Tune in to Up Here The perfect companion to Inuit Art Quarterly. Up Here is the award-winning magazine of Canada’s North. Wide ranging and credible, Up Here has informed and entertained readers since 1984. Keep in touch with today’s Nunavut, Nunavik, Northwest Territories and Yukon. Arts and Culture, Travel, History, Lifestyles, Nature and more. Six insightful issues for just 24.95*per year. (50% off newsstand prices)

Subscribe today at Uphere.ca

LAST LOOK

Inga-Wiktoria Påve Sáráhkká

Inuit Art Quarterly

It is all a circle. Earth, life, time—giving and taking, taking and giving. Passing knowledge, names, stories, kindness, pain and then, all at once, simply passing away. This circuit of beginning and ending, inhaling and exhaling, is encapsulated exquisitely in Inga-Wiktoria Påve’s Sáráhkká (2021), named after Sáráhkká—a daughter of Madderakka, the Sámi goddess of childbirth—who is said to place the soul of a child within a mother’s womb. Across the circumpolar North are Indigenous people situated in place and time, much like the archival photographs nestled on the outer rim of this piece. And yet, despite these distances, connection remains. All along the edge of this brass circle are dots and zigzags, stitching and weaving the very fabric of circumpolar Indigenous peoples’ relations together. Rings emanate out of the centre in striking red, gold and blue, nearly brushing the

heads of those that lie below. The rings are illuminated on the backdrop of a cloudy yellow, churning like an enigmatic lifeforce— ever present yet untouchable, guiding the way. Round and round goes this never-ending journey of life; past and future generations of circumpolar Indigenous peoples connected simultaneously through an unseen, unbreakable string. Circumpolar Indigenous peoples are not only linked to ancestors and descendants, but joined to each other in the now, despite tangible distances and invisible borders—looking at the same skies, stars and rainbows, like the vibrant array of colours washed over this piece, swirling and melding together. There is an unspoken kinship that cannot be broken. A link that can never be severed. It’s all a circle. LISA FRENETTE

Associate Editor

Summer 2023

Beirut: Eternal Recurrence

Image credit: Batoul Faour

July 15 – September 23, 2023 Curators: Amin Alsaden Jason St-Laurent Amar A. Zhar

67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa / www.saw-centre.com

A major exhibition featuring media works that speak to the intertwined geographic, political, social, historical, and cultural dimensions that constitute contemporary life in Beirut. Beirut: Eternal Recurrence is the inaugural exhibition in a series where SAW will feature important cities of the Global South, each seen through the eyes of contemporary artists.

Renée Condo

A North American Art Collection amplifying diverse voices and creating conversations. Image Credit: Renée Condo (Mi’kmaq), Mntu: Entangled I and Mntu: Entangled II, 2022, Acrylic paint, wood beads on acrylic non-toxic transparent resin on wood panel, Each 72” x 60”. Courtesy of Gallerie Laroche Joncas, TD Corporate Art Collection. © Renée Condo, 2023. Learn more at td.com/art.

Visit the TD Gallery of Indigenous Art at 79 Wellington St. West in Toronto. ® The TD logo and other TD trademarks are the property of the Toronto-Domion Bank or its subsidiaries.