Inuit Art Quarterly - Welcome to Qaumajuq: The New Inuit Art Centre by Inuit Art Quarterly

IN THIS ISSUE:

SPECIAL COLLECTORS’ ISSUE

Welcome to Qaumajuq

Looking Forward, Together The Future of Inuit Art Curating — Opening Qaumajuq Inuit Art in Treaty 1 — 70 Years of Inuit Art Building the World’s Largest Public Collection

The New Inuit Art Centre

In partnership with the Winnipeg Art Gallery

Congratulations to WAG-Qaumajuq on the Inaugural Exhibition INUA LUKE ANGUHADLUQ, QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE) UNTITLED

www.waddingtons.ca

CONTENTS

35.5

Inuit Art Quarterly Opening Qaumajuq

Front

Features

From the Editor

FEATURE

26 04

Meet the Contributors

Qaumajuq and Ceremony Welcoming the art and spiritually caring for it in the proper way. by Julia Lafreniere

Back TIMELINE

Iniksaq: Making Space The curators of Qaumajuq’s inaugural exhibition, INUA, discuss how Inuit artists are forging new paths and creating room for future generations of artists. by asinnajaq, Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Kablusiak and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

Igliniit: Creating a New Path Tracing the long history of Inuit art at WAG-Qaumajuq.

The Long Road to Qaumajuq For more than five decades, Winnipeg has been a hub for Inuit art and creativity. WAG-Qaumajuq has played, and continues to play, a central role. by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight

Abraham Anghik Ruben and Goota Ashoona

LEGACY

5 WORKS

A Global View

FEATURE

34 PROFILE

Zoe Ohokannoak by Dr. Riva Symko CHOICE

Mary Mariq Kuutsiq by Nooks Lindell CHOICE

Cecilia Arnadjuk Tungilik and Annie Manning by Phebe Bentley

Reflecting on the Journey to Qaumajuq and Beyond What lies ahead for Inuit art? A curator shares a small glimpse of possible futures. by Jocelyn Piirainen FEATURE

When Stories Shape the Building: Designing Qaumajuq A conversation with Dr. Stephen Borys, Michael Maltzan and Michael Robertson on architecture’s role in Indigenizing cultural spaces and advancing structural change. by Marieke Gruwel

Hinaani Design – Fox head pin 2021 Enamel 3.2 x 3.2 cm

ON THE COVER Shirley Moorhouse – To Honour the Firekeepers (detail) 2020 Mixed media wallhanging installation Dimensions variable

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ © THE ARTIST

Opening Qaumajuq

LAST LOOK

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK © THE ARTIST

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

Guest Editor Heather Igloliorte

Vice-President Reneltta Arluk Banff, AB

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, 2022 ISSN 0831-6708 Publication Mail Agreement #40050252 Postmaster send address changes to Inuit Art Foundation. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Inuit Art Foundation 1655 Dupont Street Toronto, ON, M6P 3T1 (647) 498-7717 inuitartfoundation.org 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.

Editorial Director Britt Gallpen Deputy Editor Sue Carter Associate Editor Napatsi Folger Associate Editor Lisa Frenette Associate Editor Jessica MacDonald Contributing Editor Leanne Inuarak-Dall Contributing Editor Bronson Jacque Copy Editor Tiffany Larter Fact Checker Amy Prouty Advertising Manager Nicholas Wattson

OPPOSITE

Wallhanging installation at INUA, 2021. COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ © ARTISTS

Secretary-Treasurer Julie Grenier Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC Jamie Cameron Toronto, ON 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 Mark Bennett Assistant Art Director Maegan Fidelino Printing Interprovincial Group —

FOUNDATION Strategic Initiatives Director Heather Campbell

Inuvialuit Settlement Region Community Liaison Darcie Bernhardt

Igloo Tag Coordinator Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik

Nunatsiavut Community Liaison Jessica Winters

Operations Manager Brittany Holliss

Nunavik Community Liaison Nancy Saunders

Executive Assistant Alyson Hardwick

Nunavut Community Liaison Jesse Tungilik

Administrative Assistant Kali Galbraith

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

Special Issue 2022

FROM THE EDITOR

It feels like coming full circle to be working on a new special issue around the opening of Qaumajuq, where inclusivity and representation across Inuit Nunaat is also the future. What an honour and privilege it has been to be a part of such a monumental undertaking, to see the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s long dream of building an Inuit art centre become a reality under great leadership and Indigenous guidance every step of the way. This special issue is a tribute to everyone who contributed to the creation of Qaumajuq from the ground up, from decades ago and into the future—and, most especially, the artists whose works inspired the creation of the building and sustain it.

The first time I guest edited a special issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly was in 2015. It was the first ever to focus on Nunatsiavut and while I was working on it, I was also travelling the coast of Labrador. At the time Alysa Procida had just become the new publisher of the IAQ and executive director of the Inuit Art Foundation (IAF). In fact, one of the people I was travelling the coast with was Britt Gallpen, now editorial director of the IAQ, who was working with me and a small team on what would turn into SakKijâjuk: Art and Craft from Nunatsiavut. We were picking up and packing artworks for exhibition at the big Nunatsiavut community exhibition in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL, that would also lead to the creation of SakKijâjuk. We also organized the province’s first-ever Indigenous arts conference at the same time, to bring everyone together, all while finishing the special issue. We were committed to seeing some positive changes happen for the greater inclusion of Nunatsiavummiut in the arts in Canada, which was reflected in the enthusiastic reception of the exhibition and artists, as well as their embrace by the magazine. Since then, the IAQ has made a commitment to not only include Inuit from Nunatsiavut in every issue, but also include Inuit from every region of Inuit Nunaat as well. Nothing like Qaumajuq existed when I was working on SakKijâjuk back in 2015. Now there will always be a place for artists from across the countries that span Inuit Nunaat to gather together and reflect our shared histories and artistic practices, just like in the pages of this magazine. I look forward to seeing how Qaumajuq continues to shape positive change for Inuit art in the future and particularly through such collaborations as the one it has with the IAF, to exhibit work by the biennial winner of the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award, create this issue and more. Another fun nod to the partnership between IAF and WAG-Qaumajuq? Mark Bennett, the first Inuk to ever design Opening Qaumajuq

this magazine, brought the neon green of the INUA catalogue cover onto the cover of this special issue as well. In this issue, Dr. Darlene Wight shares the long history behind the new Inuit art centre; you can learn about the tremendous efforts to open this building on Treaty 1 Territory from Julia Lafreniere; explore Associate Curator Jocelyn Piirainen’s vision for the future; read about the creation of the building in a conversation with WAG-Qaumajuq Director and CEO Dr. Stephen Borys, architect Michael Maltzan and Indigenous architect Michael Robertson moderated by Marieke Gruwel; and join myself, asinnajaq, Kablusiak and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski in our reflection—now one year out— on curating INUA, the inaugural exhibition installed throughout the Qilak and Kisik galleries. I hope you enjoy this special collectors’ issue of the IAQ, marking this momentous occasion and join me in looking forward to its future. Dr. Heather Igloliorte Guest Editor

ILLUSTRATION OF DR. HEATHER IGLOLIORTE BY GAYLE UYAGAQI KABLOONA

Front

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

A behind-the-scenes look at the issue “Julia Lafreniere ndizhnikaaz, Camperville n’doonji, Treaty 4. Joe Lafreniere niipaabaa, Eva Lafreniere, niikookoomis, Archie Lafreniere niimiishoomis. I am a proud member of the Red River Métis Nation and the language that is often associated with them is Michif. The Red River Métis were a multilingual nation and my grandmother, Eva Lafreniere, spoke five languages (Saulteaux, Cree, Michif, French and English); however her first language was Saulteaux. I introduce myself in Saulteaux to honour my grandmother and to remember her. She was told by the nuns to only speak English to her kids and so every time I introduce myself in Saulteaux it is an act of resistance and love.”

JULIA LAFRENIERE QAUMAJUQ AND CEREMONY PAGE 6

As an avid film buff who has a deep appreciation for Tolkien, I listened to the extended soundtracks of The Lord of the Rings to give me motivation.” JOCELYN PIIRAINEN REFLECTING ON THE JOURNEY TO QAUMAJUQ AND BEYOND PAGE 34

NOOKS LINDELL CHOICE: MARY MARIQ KUUTSIQ PAGE 18

“To be honest, I was scared to do a design based on another artist’s work without knowing them. Mary’s passed on, so not being able to talk to her, plus just being a big fan of her work, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I had to step back and remind myself why this piece captured my heart in the first place and to trust my artistic instincts. After that I really enjoyed the process of making something that people could enjoy, and maybe even make them feel a bit mischievous.”

This issue’s contributor illustrations are by Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona is an Inuk artist and writer currently residing in Ottawa. She believes art and writing are valuable tools to express herself in a broader way and to make the world a little bit more Inuk. Her short story, “Utiqtuq,” appeared in Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories (2019), published by Inhabit Media. She recently opened her first solo exhibition, Kajuhiutihimajatka: What I’m Carrying On, at the Art Gallery of Guelph, which brought her work together with that of her grandmother Victoria Mamnguqsualuk and great-grandmother Jessie Oonark. Visit her IAQ profile at inuitartfoundation.org/gayle-uyagaqi-kabloona

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

COVER SPOTLIGHT

NADIA JACKINSKY 5 WORKS: A GLOBAL VIEW PAGE 14

It is wonderful to see the INUA exhibition celebrating a shared heritage of northern Indigenous communities. We are all connected in the North—through climate, materials and subsistence.”

Shirley Moorhouse COVER SPOTLIGHT

“Your mind clicks into other places that you probably forgot you remembered. It’s not only my memory, but a big well of memory that I’m trying to just put a little snapshot into, and let other people join in.”

STEPHEN BORYS WHEN STORIES SHAPE THE BUILDING: DESIGNING QAUMAJUQ PAGE 40

“Qaumajuq began as a building project, which quickly evolved into a conversation, starting with the Inuit community. While we’ve built this amazing structure, we’ve also witnessed the development of a rich dialogue with people from across the country.”

To learn more about each work featured in INUA listen to NAGVAAQTAVUT | WHAT WE FOUND: THE INUA AUDIO GUIDE today at wag.ca/inua-online/#artwork

Check out this issue’s artists at inuitartfoundation.org/wag-qaumajuq Opening Qaumajuq

For To Honour the Firekeepers (2020), made specifically for INUA (and captured on this issue’s cover), Shirley Moorhouse created two wallhangings: one that features materials that Inuit have worked with for centuries, such as smoked caribou skin and beads, and the other wallhanging adorned with synthetic fabrics, electronic components and even includes a trout made out of a deconstructed computer keyboard. The diptych is a rumination on how healthy and wild the ecosystem in Labrador has been until very recently, as well as how rapidly that seems to be changing in the present. In one panel she recalls summers of her youth, fishing for wild trout with her mother; in the other she explains that the keyboard-trout now references the new testing measures made necessary by the threat of methylmercury poisoning, a concern brought about by hydroelectricity resource extraction in the region. The vibrant beaded “fire” set between the two wallhangings honours those who have fought, and continue to fight, against this environmental destruction.

Front

Qaumajuq and Ceremony: Welcoming the art and spiritually caring for it in the proper way by Julia Lafreniere

ᖃᐅᒪᔪᖅ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᕐᓗ: ᑐᙵᓱᒃᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᓈᒻᒪᒃᑐᒥᒡᓗ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑐᖅ ᔪᓕᐊ ᓚᕗᕋᓂᐊ

TITLE

In March of 2021, the Indigenous Nations of Manitoba came together at the Winnipeg Art Gallery to welcome Inuit art to Winnipeg and to open Qaumajuq in an unprecedented event: the Seven Nations Ceremony.

When I was hired at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) in 2019, I was immediately assigned to be part of the Inuit Art Centre opening committee—long before it was given the name Qaumajuq—and tasked with facilitating the opening ceremony for the Inuit Art Centre, which was set to open in 2021. Parallel to my work on the Inuit Art Centre opening, and also part of my new role at the WAG, I wanted to understand what Indigenous people in Winnipeg thought of the WAG and the new Inuit Art Centre that was being built in the heart of Treaty 1 Territory. The building was to be a significant construction project located right next to the University of Winnipeg and Manitoba Legislature Building in Winnipeg’s downtown. Everyone who has lived in or visited Winnipeg in the last five years was aware of the project, as it is located so centrally in the city.

Dr. Stephen Borys and Julia Lafreniere, along with members of the WAG Indigenous Advisory Circle, Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Dr. Julie Nagam, Jaimie Isaac, Elder Dr. Mary Courchene and Jocelyn Piirainen, draped in star blankets they received at the opening of Qaumajuq in March 2021. COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ

TITLE

ᖄᖓᓂ: ᒫᔾᔨ 2021-ᒥ, ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᒫᓂᑑᐸᒥ ᑲᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂ ᑐᙵᓱᒃᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᓯᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔭᕆᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᓂᓗ, 7-ᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᖅ.

ᐃᓕᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓯᑏᕙᓐ ᐴᕆᔅ ᐊᒻᒪ ᔪᓕᐊ ᓚᕗᕆᐊᐃ, ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᔪᓪᓗ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᔾᔪᐃᔨᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐃᓕᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᕼᐊᑐ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᖅᑎ, ᐃᓕᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᔫᓕ ᓂᒐᒻ, ᔭᐃᒥ ᐊᐃᓴᒃ, ᐃᓄᑐᖃᖅ ᐃᓕᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᒥᐊᓕ ᑰᕐᓯᓐ ᐊᒻᒪ ᔮᔅᓕᓐ ᐲᕆᐊᓂᓐ, ᐅᓕᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᐊᙳᐊᓕᖕᓂᒃ ᑐᓐᓂᖅᑯᓯᐊᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᖅ ᒫᔾᔨ 2021-ᒥ. ᐊᔾᔨᙳᐊᖅ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᑦ-ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᑦ

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᑖᕆᔭᐅᒐᒪ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ 2019-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᒪᒃᐱᖅᓯᓂᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖃᑕᐅᓯᑲᐅᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ- ᓱᓕ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑎᓐᓇᒍ, ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᒃ - ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᐅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᖓᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᑕᐅᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ, ᒪᑐᐃᖅᑕᐅᒡᕕᒃᓴᖃᖅᖢᓂ 2021-ᒥ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᒃ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᓯᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᓴᓂᕌᒍᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑖᕆᓵᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᕋᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ, ᑐᑭᓯᔪᒪᓚᐅᕋᒪ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᖃᕐᒪᖔᑕ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᓄᑖᖅ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᐊᖏᖃᑎᒌᒍᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 1 ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂ. ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓂᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᒫᓂᑑᐸᐅᑉ ᒪᓕᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᖓᑦᑕ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒡᔪᐊᖓᑦᑕ ᓴᓂᑦᑎᐊᖓᓐᓂ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᕿᑎᐊᓂ. ᑭᒃᑯᓕᒫᑦ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥᐅᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐳᓛᖅᓯᒪᔪᓪᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑦ ᑕᓪᓕᒪᓂᑦ ᖄᖏᓵᖅᑐᓂᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔪᐃᓐᓇᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᐸᐅᔭᐅᑦ ᕿᑎᓪᓗᐊᖓᓃᓐᓂᖓᓄᑦ.

WELCOME

ᑐᙵᓱᒋᑦᑎ

ᑐᑭᓯᔪᒪᓪᓗᖓ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᖃᕐᒪᖔᑕ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᓄᑖᖅ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᓂᑦ ᑐᓴᕆᐊᕐᕕᖃᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᐳᖓ. ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖃᕐᕕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᑉ ᒥᒃᓵᓄᑦ ᐊᐱᕆᔭᐅᔭᕌᖓᒥᒃ ᐊᐱᖅᑯᑎᒃᓴᖃᐅᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ. “ᖃᓄᐃᒻᒪ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓂᐊᖅᐸ ᐊᖏᕈᑎ 1-ᒥ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᒫᓂᕐᒥᐅᑕᐅᑎᓐᓇᒋᑦ?” ᐊᐱᖅᑯᑕᐅᒐᔪᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ, ᐊᑲᖅᓴᙱᓪᓗᑎᐅᙱᑦᑐᖅ, ᑐᑭᓯᔪᒪᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᓯᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᐱᖅᑯᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᑭᐅᔭᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ. ᖁᔭᒋᔭᖃᕐᓯᒪᔪᖓ ᐃᓚᐅᖃᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᒪᓂᓐᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔨᑕᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒡᓗ. ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓂᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᓵᖅᑐᓂᑦ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᓕᖅᑕᒃᑲ ᑕᑰᑕ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᖅ ᐅᐊᓐᑎ ᐅᐊᑭᑕ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓂᕼᐃᔭᐅᐊᒃᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕐᒥᒃ ᐸᕼᐊᓐ ᐱᑎ ᓴᓐ ᐅᐃᓐᒥᒃ. ᓂᐅᕐᕈᕕᒋᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔮᒃᑲᒃ 2020 ᐊᐅᔭᖓᓐᓂ, ᑕᒡᕚᑭᒥᒃ ᑐᓂᓪᓗᒋᒃ ᐊᐱᕆᓪᓗᖓ, “ᖃᓄᖅ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᒋᔪᓐᓇᖅᐸᕗᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᒪᒃᐱᖅᑕᐅᓂᖓ ᐊᖏᖃᑎᒌᒍᑦ 1 ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂ?” ᐅᐊᓐᑎᑉ ᑭᐅᔾᔪᑎᖓ ᓱᖅᑯᐃᓇᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ. ᐅᖃᐅᑎᓚᐅᖅᑖᖓ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᑦ 7-ᖑᔪᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᑦ ᒫᓂᑑᐸᒥ ᑐᙵᓱᒃᑎᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᕐᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓗᒃ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ, ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒡᓗ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓃᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐅᐊᓐᑎᑉ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ, 7-ᖑᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᑕᐅᑦᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᑎᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ. ᐸᕐᓇᒃᖢᑕ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᕕᒃᓴᕐᒧᑦ, ᑕᒡᕚᑭᓂᒃ ᑐᓐᓂᖅᓴᐃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᑲᑎᖃᑎᖃᖅᖢᖓᓗ 7-ᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᓂᒃ 7-ᖑᔪᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᑦ ᒫᓂᑑᐸᒥ. ᐅᓂᒃᑳᓚᐅᖅᐳᖓ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᐅᓂᐊᖅᑑᑉ ᒥᒃᓯᖏᓐᓂᑦ, ᐅᐊᓐᑎᑉᓗ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕆᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ, ᐊᐱᕆᓪᓗᒋᓪᓗ ᒪᑐᐃᕐᕕᒃᓴᕐᒧᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕆᐊᖅᑐᕈᓐᓇᓛᕐᒪᖔᑕ. ᐅᑯᐊ ᖁᔭᒋᑦᑎᐊᖅᑕᒃᑲ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕐᓂᖃᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ: ᐳᕋᐃᔭᓐ ᐱᐅᑎ (ᐅᔨ-ᑯᕇ), ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖅ ᑕᓂᔅ ᒪᓰᔅ ᐊᒻᒪ ᔫᓖᓐ ᒨᓱ (ᐊᓂᔅᓇᐱ), ᒫᑕ ᐲᑦ (ᐃᓄᐃᑦ), ᐸᕼᐊᓐ ᐱᑎ ᓴᓐ ᐅᐃᓐ (ᓂᕼᐃᔭᐅᐊᒃ), ᕕᒃᑐ ᑎᓯᓴᔨ (ᑕᓂ), ᒪᓯᓚ ᕕᔨᓇ (ᒪᓯ/ᒪᐃᑎ), ᐊᒻᒪ ᐅᐊᓐᑎ ᐅᐊᑭᑕ (ᑎᑰᑕ). ᓱᐴᖅᑑᑎᑦ ᐸᐃᑉᐸᐃᑦ ᖁᒻᒧᑦ ᑐᕌᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᖁᓪᓕᖅ ᐃᑯᒻᒪᒃᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ, ᕿᓚᐅᑦᓗ ᑐᓴᕐᓇᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᐅᕕᙱᐊᕋᓪᓗ ᓇᒃᑐᕋᓕᐅᓪᓗ ᓴᐅᓂᖓᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓱᐴᒐᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᒪᕐᓗ ᖁᔭᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ, ᓄᑖᕐᒥ ᐃᒡᓗᔪᐊᖅᑖᓵᕐᒥ - ᑕᐃᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᒃ.ᖁᔭᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ, ᓄᑖᕐᒥ ᐃᒡᓗᔪᐊᖅᑖᓵᕐᒥ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᒃ.

To understand what Indigenous people in Winnipeg thought of the WAG and the Inuit Art Centre, I began a series of community consultations with Indigenous community leaders in the city. When asked about the centre they had a lot of questions. “Why is this centre being built here on Treaty 1 when Inuit aren’t from this territory?” was a common question that came up, not asked in frustration, but sincere interest. I knew that any opening celebration would have to address this important question. I have been very privileged to sit in ceremony with many different Elders and Knowledge Keepers. In the last few years, I’ve become quite close to Dakota Unkan Wanbdi Wakita and Lakota, Cree and Métis Kunsi Pahan Pte San Win. I visited them in the summer of 2020, passed tobacco and asked, “How can we have ceremony for the opening of the Inuit Art Centre on Treaty 1 Territory?” Wanbdi’s answer was clear and direct. He told me to gather ceremonial leaders from the seven Indigenous Nations in Manitoba to welcome the art to this territory and to promise Inuit that we will care for the building and most importantly, the artworks while they are here on this land. From Wanbdi’s directives, the Seven Nations Ceremony was born. In preparation for the day of ceremony, I passed tobacco to and met with seven different ceremonial leaders from the seven Indigenous Nations of Manitoba. I explained the ceremony, Wanbdi’s directives and asked if they would bring their prayers to our opening. I am very grateful to the following people for their prayers on the day of the ceremony: Byron Beardy (Oji-Cree), former Chief Dennis Meeches and Jolene Mercer (Anishinaabe), Dr. Mary Courchene (Anishinaabe), Joachim Ayaruak and Martha Peet (Inuit), Pahan Pte San Win (Lakota, Cree, Métis), Victor Tssessaze (Dene), Marcella Vezina (Métis) and Wanbdi Wakita (Dakota). Sacred Pipes were lifted, a qulliq was lit, drums echoed through the hallways, an eagle whistle was sounded and the water was honoured, all within the new building—now named Qaumajuq. Inuit Art Quarterly

OPPOSITE & NEXT SPREAD

Julia Lafreniere taking part in a smudging ceremony during the opening of Qaumajuq in March 2021. COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ

ᔪᓕᐊ ᓚᕗᓂᐊᐃ ᐳᔫᖅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᖅ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᒫᔾᔨ 2021−ᒥ. ᐊᔾᔨᙳᐊᖅ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᑦ-ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᑦ

Special Issue 2022

WELCOME

ᑐᙵᓱᒋᑦᑎ

We held the Seven Nations Ceremony with each of the ceremonial leaders all in one day. The ceremonial leaders chose how they would bring their prayers to the building and artworks, and my role was to accommodate their requests. There are spaces within Qaumajuq that are named in each of the seven Indigenous language families of Manitoba, further honouring the Indigenous Nations of Manitoba as the generous hosts of WAG-Qaumajuq. Each prayer took place in the part of the building that was named in their corresponding language. For example, the Anishinaabe prayers with former Chief Dennis Meeches and Jolene Mercer happened in Giizhig, the gallery named with an Anishinaabemowin word meaning sky. The Dakota prayers with Unkan Wanbdi Wakita were made in Ohni Izanzan, the space named with the Dakota word meaning everlasting light. The ceremonial leaders vowed to care for all of the artwork while here on Treaty 1 Territory. A Knowledge Keeper reminded me that the Inuit art at WAG-Qaumajuq is not from here and the Spirits of the artwork might get lonely for their homelands. So, the seven Elders made prayers for the makers of the artwork, both here and in the Spirit World, and for the artworks themselves. As I’ve been reminded, all artwork has a Spirit that needs to be cared for and honoured. This is now central to my work and it is my personal duty as Head of Indigenous Initiatives at WAG-Qaumajuq: to care for these works in the proper ceremonial way while they live at our institution. My hope is that one day the artworks can return to their homelands in Inuit Nunangat, but until then, I am very happy to care for them. Personally, the Seven Nations Ceremony was one of the most profound and memorable days of my life. I have never sat in ceremony with so many Elders in one day. It was a powerful moment for me, and most importantly, for Qaumajuq. I am confident that with all of the ceremonial leaders' prayers, and the ongoing ceremony that takes place within the building, we have made a comfortable and welcoming home for these Inuit artworks and a bright path forward for all that the future holds for Qaumajuq.

7-ᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖃᑎᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐊᑐᓂ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖃᑎᒋᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᓄᖅ ᑐᒃᓯᐅᑎᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓗᖕᒧᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᓪᓗ ᐃᓯᐅᔾᔨᓂᐊᕐᒪᖔᕐᒥᒃ, ᐊᑐᕈᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒡᓗ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᐅᓪᓗᖓ. ᖃᐅᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓗᖓᓐᓂ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᕕᖃᖅᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᕗᑦ 7-ᖑᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᒫᓂᑑᐸᒥ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑎᑐᑦ, ᖁᔭᓕᔾᔪᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᒫᓂᑑᐸᒥ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᑐᙵᓱᒃᑎᑦᑎᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥᒃ-ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥᒃ. ᐊᑐᓂ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓗᖕᒥ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᒡᕕᒋᔭᖏᓐᓃᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ. ᐆᒃᑑᑎᒋᓗᒍ, ᐊᓂᔅᓇᐱ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᒋᔭᖓ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖅ ᑕᓂᔅ ᒦᓯᔅ ᐊᒻᒪ ᔫᓖᓐ ᒨᓱ ᒌᔨᕼᒡ-ᒦᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ, ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᓂᔅᓇᐱᒥᐅᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᑐᑭᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᕿᓚᖕᒥᒃ. ᑕᑰᑕ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᖓᓐᓂᑦ ᐅᐊᓐᑎ ᐅᐊᑭᑕᑉ ᑐᒃᓯᐅᑎᖏᑦ ᐅᓂ ᐃᔅᕼᐊᓐᒡᕼᐊᓐᒦᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ, ᐊᑦᑎᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᑰᑕᑐᑦ ᑐᑭᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᖃᐅᒪᐃᓐᓇᐅᔭᖅᑐᕐᒥᒃ. ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᑦ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᐸᖅᑭᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᕋᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᖏᕈᑎ 1 ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓃᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔨᑕᐅᑉ ᐃᖅᑲᐃᑎᓚᐅᖅᐹᖓ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖏᑦ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓃᑦᑐᑦ-ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥ ᑕᒫᙶᖅᓯᒪᙱᒻᒪᑕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓪᓗ ᑕᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᖅᓯᓕᑐᐃᓐᓇᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᐃᒻᒪᑦ, 7-ᖑᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᐃᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐅᔾᔨᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑎᐅᔪᓂᒃ, ᓱᓕ ᑕᒫᓃᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᔪᓐᓃᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒡᓗ, ᑐᒃᓯᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᓪᓗ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᒐᑦ. ᐃᖅᑲᐃᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᒐᒪ, ᓴᓇᙳᐊᒐᓕᒫᑦ ᑕᕐᓂᖃᕐᒪᑕ ᐸᖅᑭᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᐱᒋᔭᐅᓗᑎᒡᓗ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᓪᓗᐊᕐᑕᓕᖅᑕᕋ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᕐᓗ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖑᓪᓗᖓ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒡᒥ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᒃ-ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥ ᐱᓂᐊᒐᕆᓪᓗᒍ: ᓴᓇᐅᒐᑦ ᐸᖅᑭᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᒋᓗᒋᓪᓗ ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓗᑦᑎᓐᓃᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂ. ᓂᕆᐅᒃᐳᖓ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᑦ ᐅᑎᕈᒫᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓄᑦ, ᐅᑎᓚᐅᙱᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂ, ᖁᕕᐊᓱᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖓ ᐸᖅᑭᔭᕆᐊᒃᓴᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ, 7-ᖑᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖃᑎᒌᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᓐᓂ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᓯᒪᓂᐊᖅᑐᖅ. ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑐᓃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᙱᓐᓇᒪ ᐅᓪᓗᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐊᒥᓱᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒃᑐᕐᓂᖃᕐᔪᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ, ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒡᓗ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒧᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒧᑦ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᐳᖓ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐅᑎᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ, ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᓪᓗ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑕᐅᖏᓐᓇᕐᓂᖓᒍᑦ, ᐃᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑐᙵᓇᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᓂᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᐊᖅᑯᓯᐅᑦᑎᐊᕋᓱᒋᓪᓗᑕᓗ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᑉ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᖓᓐᓂᒃ.

– Julia Lafreniere ndizhnikaaz, Camperville n’dooji, Treaty 4. Waagosh dodem. Joe Lafreniere nipaabaa. Julia Lafreniere is the Head of Indigenous Initiatives at Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq.

–

ᔪᓕᐊ ᓚᕗᕋᓂᐊ ᓂᑎᔅᓂᑳᔅ, ᑳᒻᐳᕕᐅᓪ ᓄᑑᔨ, ᐊᖏᖃᑎᒌᒍᑦ 4. ᐅᐊᒎᔅ ᑑᑕᒻ ᑎᕆᒐᓂᐊᑦ. ᔫ ᓚᕗᕋᓂᐊ ᓂᐹᐹ. ᔪᓕᐊ ᓚᕗᕋᓂᐊ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑲᐅᔪᖅ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓕᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᐃᓂᐸᐃᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂ-ᖃᐅᒪᔪᕐᒥ.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

5 WORKS

A Global View Circumpolar curators and artists share insights on their favourite works from INUA

BELOW (LEFT)

BELOW

Brian Adams — Robert White (Right), William Sharp (Middle), John Sharp (Left), Quinhagak, Alaska 2015 Digital photograph

Drew Michael — Looking into my Beat 2020 Basswood, brass with patina and acrylic, nails 40.6 × 22.9 × 12.7 cm

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ © THE ARTIST

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK © ARTIST

Drew Michael

Looking into my Beat (2020) The unyielding stare of Drew Michael’s mask, Looking into my Beat, quiets its viewer and transforms the longer one looks upon it. The details of the steady carved marks, the playful embellishments and the starkly applied colour create a complex balance that can only be described as a personal narrative. Yet, when looking upon this piece, one starts to imagine wearing this mask: gazing through its eyes, then its beaded drum hoops and finally emerging through its centre as it splits. This mask pulls you in, making Michael’s story your own. MELISSA SHAGINOFF

Curator Dgheyay Kaq’ (Anchorage), Alaska

Brian Adams

Robert White (Right), William Sharp (Middle), John Sharp (Left), Quinhagak, Alaska (2015) Sauna, steam bath, banya, maqii, whatever you call it, is the best place to be at the end of the day. It is the place where we go to laugh, relax, cleanse ourselves and raise our heartbeats. Going alone or together, we come out feeling refreshed and connected. Brian Adams’ photograph of three men—Robert White, William Sharp and John Sharp—in a steamhouse in Quinhagak, Alaska, captures the delight of this experience. I imagine the heat of the steam inside contrasting with the exhilaratingly cool air outside, knowing these men walked home with smiles on their faces. NADIA JACKINSKY

Art Historian Homer, Alaska

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

5 WORKS

Eli Tikeayak

Head and Spirit (c. 1964–72) Head and Spirit is a simple and beautiful example of Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU, ceramic art. Typically, Inuit ceramicists weren’t drawn to the fussy business of glazing, which is technical, involves chemicals and can easily go wrong with catastrophic results. This arnaq proves you don’t have to be shiny to be gorgeous. Raw, unglazed clay evokes closeness and warmth. It allows us to see the textures

in the clay perfectly: gentle shaping marks on the woman’s cheeks, her delicately detailed hairs parted down the middle. The artist chose to create an intimate yet powerful beauty, simply for beauty’s sake. GAYLE UYAGAQI KABLOONA

Artist Ottawa, ON

5/ LEFT

Beatrice Deer and Julie Grenier

Eli Tikeayak — Head and Spirit c. 1964–72 Clay 27 × 17 × 15 cm

Arnauti (2021)

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MAYER © ARTIST

Sewing sealskin clothing is a delicate process from start to finish. It all begins with hunting, knowing how to navigate the arctic environment and skills to hunt on the ice and the ocean under different circumstances. It takes the right skills to cut the seal, the right tools and process to treat the sealskin and lastly, the knowledge to sew sealskin. All of this knowledge has been taught and passed down through generations. The artists’ incredible abilities to create this beautiful arnauti are indeed only the tip of the iceberg of the fantastic skills and knowledge Inuit have.

Unknown Artist

Large Doll with Face Tattoos (n.d.) Although her clothing and lack of tools provide no clues to her origin, the tattoos on this skillfully made doll do tell a story. The markings on her nose and forehead are Netsilik. Several accounts, from early descriptions to later colour photographs, indicate that this type of pattern is from the Kitikmeot Region. The Netsilik are the most eastern group of Inuit to use the nose line that goes back to the beginnings of Inuit tattooing. It is wonderful to know that the understanding of traditional tattoo patterns can help us identify the origins of artworks when the attribution information is missing.

ARNATSIAQ QVIST

Artist Northwest Greenland

MAYA SIALUK JACOBSEN

Artist Svendborg, Denmark

Opening Qaumajuq

LEFT

ABOVE

Unknown Artist — Large Doll with Face Tattoos n.d. Embroidery floss and fabric 81 × 29 × 13.5 cm

Beatrice Deer and Julie Grenier — Arnauti 2021 Dyed sealskin, fox fur and beads 130 × 47 cm

GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI © ARTIST

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK © THE ARTISTS

Front

PROFILE

Zoe Ohokannoak

BELOW

Maudie Rachel Okittuq — Sea Goddess 1977 Duffel and embroidery thread 47.5 × 32 × 11 cm GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

by Dr. Riva Symko

Among the Inuit art collection at WAG-Qauamajuq, there are a number of images of tattooed figures that Zoe Ohokannoak was determined to exhibit. In their curatorial debut, Ohokannoak worked with mentor Jocelyn Piirainen, the WAG’s Associate Curator of Inuit Art, to create Kakiniit/Hivonighijotaa: Inuit Embodied Practices and Meanings (2022). Reflecting two and a half years of research, this show is what Ohokannoak describes as “the culmination” of their dream to exhibit Inuit culture and traditions through the lens of tattooing practices and their connection to shamanism.1 However, more than an end point, the exhibition is actually only the beginning for this burgeoning curator. In fact, the exhibition finds Ohokannoak at a liminal space in their practice: they began as a painter, completing large-scale murals on the walls of Kiilinik High School in their hometown of Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), NU, in 2017 before a job in the Government of Nunavut’s Public Health Department led to creating four murals that span each side of Iqaluktuuttiaq’s public swimming pool building in 2019 and another two murals at the Cambridge Bay Mental Health Facility in 2020. Inuit Art Quarterly

Since then, Ohokannoak has been studying for their Bachelor of Fine Arts at NSCAD University in Halifax, NS, and producing and selling their artwork online under the name Aghaliaq Artworks. But through it all, they have had an abiding love of Inuit tattooing practices, inspired by the work of Hovak Johnston and the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project. “Seeing that resurgence and how impactful it has been to individuals, and seeing young people actually getting tattoos has really been inspiring to me,” Ohokannoak told The Winnipeg Free Press in April 2022.2 When their pool mural hit the papers in Nunavut, they were approached by NSCAD professor Dr. Carla Taunton to create an exhibition through the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project exploring Inuit art and tattoo design, oral histories and clothing. Kakiniit/Hivonighijotaa thus represents Ohokannoak’s first steps into a curatorial practice. The exhibition brings into focus traditional tattoos of all kinds, from the stripy multicoloured kakiniit on the caribou bodies of Jessie Oonark’s The Tattooed Caribou Prods a Child (1979) print to the embroidered tunniit on Maudie Rachel Okittuq’s Sea Goddess 16

Special Issue 2022

PROFILE

(1977) doll. Further works from artists past and present, including Omalluq Oshutsiaq, Germaine Arnaktauyok, William Noah, Manasie Akpaliapik, Ningiukulu Teevee and Judas Ullulaq, are spread out on white walls and red pedestals throughout the exhibition space. In their exhibition, Ohokannoak emphasizes the greater meanings that the embodied practice of tattooing holds, from the individual’s experience to community, family, gender, partnership and motherhood—“the thoughts, care, meaning, and history behind it,” they write in the exhibition literature.3 To that end, Ohokannoak included pieces of their own history in the form of floor-to-ceiling video-projected family photographs, among them an image of their paternal great-grandmother and another of their grandpa’s stepmom with a faint V-shaped tattoo on her forehead. The projections enliven the entire space in a way that mimics the dynamism of kakiniit themselves. “It’s been an incredible experience to be able to research further into what has been so inspiring in my culture, and being able to reflect that into an exhibition with these incredible pieces by incredible Inuit artists,” says Ohokannoak. As for what’s next? They are determined to further research their culture and history and “hopefully make more dreams come true.” – Dr. Riva Symko is Head of Collections and Exhibitions, as well as Curator of Canadian Art, at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. She has previously held posts with institutions such as the Kimura Gallery, University of Alberta Museums and Modern Fuel, as well as academic teaching positions at the University of Manitoba, University of Alaska Anchorage, Memorial University and Queen’s University.

ABOVE

Abraham Kingmiaqtuq — Shaman Holding Knife 1974 Stone and antler 35.5 × 22.2 × 25.2 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MAYER © THE ARTIST

LEFT

Installation view of Kakiniit/ Hivonighijotaa: Inuit Embodied Practices and Meanings, 2022. COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK

NOTES

Opening Qaumajuq

All quotes from Zoe Ohokannoak, interview with Jessica MacDonald (Associate Editor), May 2022.

Jen Zoratti, “Body Language: Traditional Inuit tattooing a sacred practice that tells a personal story,” The Winnipeg Free Press, April 21, 2022, https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/bodylanguage-576419002.html

The Winnipeg Art Gallery, “Kakiniit/ Hivonighijotaa: Inuit Embodied Practices and Meanings Opens at WAG-Qaumajuq,” April 21, 2022, https://www.wag.ca/media/kakiniithivonighijotaa-inuit-embodiedpractices-meanings-opens-at-wagqaumajuq/

Front

CHOICE

Mary Mariq Kuutsiq At the Fishing Weir

by Nooks Lindell

Mary Mariq Kuutsiq — At the Fishing Weir 1994 Wool duffel, felt and embroidery floss 94 × 141 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MAYER © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

CHOICE

In 2019, Hinaani Design (a clothing and accessory collective made up of Emma Kreuger, Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt, Lori Tagoona and myself) was invited to explore the vault at the Winnipeg Art Gallery before Qaumajuq was finished, as part of a project with the WAG Shop. It was an exciting opportunity and after seeing hundreds of different artworks we were inspired to create some products for the shop in honour of what we saw. Although we were excited, we were also overwhelmed—we wanted to work with everything. On our way out of the vault, I noticed a stack of wallhangings. That’s where I encountered Mary Mariq Kuutsiq’s (1926–2011) piece, At the Fishing Weir (1994). Only seeing the corner, I was immediately drawn to its colours: the blue-green and the pink with white and red edges instantly caught my eye. Upon getting a fuller view, I saw the fox and was captivated. That’s when I knew I had found the piece I would remix. I told myself to “just go with your gut.” There are so many great pieces of art but you just have to go with ones that really stick out. Born near the Back River region in Nunavut, Kuutsiq spent her childhood on the land. In the 1970s she made her way to Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU, where she extended her traditional knowledge of sewing to create wallhangings—in a similar style to other artists of her time. I’ve always been fascinated with embroidery. I finally got my own embroidery machine a couple of years ago, and I have so much fun with it. That’s why Kuutsiq’s work, and this piece in particular, is so fascinating to me. There’s something about the colours she used and the intricacy of the stitching. The entire piece is full of life and character, but it’s the fox that grabs my attention. I’m drawn to the

details and patterns, such as the small triangles, that form the fox and texture the work—I want to incorporate that style of embroidery, in my own way. I like the idea of somebody making this kind of work so long ago and then almost giving it a new life by recreating it, having it be embroidered again, but in a different style. The opportunity to explore the vault and encounter Kuutsiq’s work was really meaningful. So many prominent Inuit artists paved the way for us artists today. I wish it was possible to collaborate in person but collaborating with the work they’ve done is also significant. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be where we are right now because they created such a strong voice for Inuit art that has made it easier, I think, for us to do what we are right now. What I enjoy the most about Inuit art is the style. It’s unique, colourful and joyful, but it also tells a story. The fox in Kuutsiq’s piece represents all of the things that I feel about Inuit art. I can see it in that fox’s eyes and face, with the orange colour and the way it’s shaped, the way it has personality—you can tell he’s mischievous. It’s not perfect but, at the same time, it’s perfect for what it is. — Nooks Lindell is an Inuk artist from Arviat, NU. As designer for Hinaani Design, he creates both digital graphic art and artisan handicrafts from his home studio. Lindell seeks to create renewed functionality and beauty out of discarded and used items. The reclamation of materials, land and culture actively decolonizes his artwork and provides pathways to personal healing. Studying the use of objects and the style of Inuit life and culture, he seeks to explore the intersection of the two.

Hinaani Design — Fox pin 2021 Enamel 2.5 × 2.5 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ © THE ARTIST

Opening Qaumajuq

Front

CHOICE

Cecilia Arnadjuk Tungilik and Annie Manning Necklace by Phebe Bentley This collection of nine necklaces from the Government of Nunavut’s fine art collection on display in INUA can only be referred to as breathtaking. Each piece is crafted with materials from the nuna (land): tuugaaq (ivory), sauniq (bone), natjuk (antler), qullisajaq (steatite) and ivaluk (sinew). The ancient materials provided by our ancestral land are interwoven with contemporary materials such as brass, nylon and silver. Each ujamik (necklace) is beautiful and unique; the only similarity that connects the pieces are the materials and the consistent use of green that runs through each piece. Looking at the collection, I can’t help but notice at least four of the nine pieces are made by arnait (women). This surprised and delighted me since my understanding was that carving and jewellery making was typically an industry dominated by men. It was hard to pick a single work to write about, so I chose two that really speak to me. Many of the pieces have a magical feel, as if they were made for angakkuit (shamans) to ward off evil spirits and this piqued my interest. The energy radiating from Cecilia Arnadjuk Tungilik’s masterpiece is a perfect example. The sharp edges of the tiriganniaq (fox teeth) that encompass the necklace give off a protective yet welcoming vibration. The teeth resemble qilalugait (beluga whales), teasing you to come in and take a closer look. Delicate and colourful serpentinite beads trigger my memories of the blue and green shades found in icebergs. Majestic, mysterious and bold is how I would describe this eye-catching necklace with a face anchored at the bottom, staring at you as if it was crafted to see into your soul. The other statement piece I admire greatly was created by Annie Manning, CM, of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. This show-stopper has a more modern look— it reminds me of the works of Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, ONu, RCA (1927–2013), world-renowned prints of grandiose birds and their dramatic feathers—with its playful and feminine curves. The brass chains, ivory and stone inlay lend an aura of elegance and sophistication. It demands attention, and I can imagine it being worn by the internationally renowned Indigenous model Quannah

Cecilia Arnadjuk Tungilik — Necklace 1977 Stone, caribou bone, fox teeth, sealskin and black inlay 1.3 × 16.6 × 18 cm GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

CHOICE

We may not know much yet about how, why or where this beautiful series of ujamik were created, or how they ended up in the Government of Nunavut’s collection, but make no mistake, these women artists paved the way for other women who came after them. Chasinghorse, giving it the audience it deserves on the world fashion stage. As an Inuk girl growing up in Kangirsuk and Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, I didn’t have that many examples of women who carved or made jewellery. There were exceptions, of course, but growing up, the possibility of being an artist and working with tools did not cross my mind. In school, we had a culture class where girls and boys were segregated. If you walked into a girl’s culture class, you would find sewing machines, scissors, needles, pins, beads and different types of material in the room. The boy’s culture class was more of a workshop; walking in, you would notice manual and power tools, chunks of steatite and pieces of wood with protective gear like gloves and eyewear hanging from the walls. Both skills taught in these classes were equally important, but your gender predetermined the skill set you would acquire. This is why I was genuinely surprised to see women’s names on some of these pieces. These arnait, and those like them, broke the mould of who carves and creates to produce these beautiful and classic pieces of art. We may not know much yet about how, why or where this beautiful series of ujamiit were created, or how they ended up in the Government of Nunavut’s collection, but make no mistake, these women artists paved the way for other women who came after them, women like me and my daughters—leaving pieces that remind us that you can do anything, regardless of your gender and what society thinks that means about your abilities. Maybe these shining pieces of beauty were crafted as an act of feminism; women before us carving and polishing their way to a more inclusive world for all Inuit artists. — Phebe Bentley is a seamstress, jeweller, aspiring writer, Education Consultant and Treasurer. Based in Montreal, QC, Bentley creates pieces inspired by the nuna and Inuit culture. Outside of her art, education and women’s rights are some of her passions. She is currently working for Kativik Ilisarniliriniq and is the Treasurer of Saturviit Inuit Women’s Association of Nunavik. Opening Qaumajuq

Annie Manning — Necklace 1976 Brass, stone and ivory 2 × 9.1 × 34.5 cm GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

Front

PHOTO: Ruth Bonneville, Winnipeg Free Press

Please, let me show you around. When we were building Qaumajuq, it was with you in mind–our special guests. I’d love to tour you through, have you be part of Qaumajuq and hear your impressions. I hope we’ve created a special place for you to share your passion and knowledge of Inuit art, discover new works and visit old favourites. Please let me know when you’re coming to WAG-Qaumajuq, so that I can welcome you personally. I’m at sborys@wag.ca. I look forward to seeing you soon. Warmest,

Dr. Stephen Borys, Director & CEO PS. The Gallery Shop ships worldwide – shop.wag.ca

it is bright, it is lit

Pudlo Pudlat (Canadian (Cape Dorset), 1916–1992). Printmaker: Aoudla Pudlat, 1951–2006. In Celebration, 1979, lithograph on paper, 3/50, 56.5 x 76.5 cm. Image: 56.5 x 76.5cm. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Gift of Indian & Northern Affairs, Canada, G89-1064. Photograph: Ernest Mayer, courtesy of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Amplifying Diverse Voices. Championing an Inclusive Present and Future. TD is proud to support the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Qaumajuq. It’s just one of the ways we are helping to open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow. Learn more at td.com/art

Kablusiak

Dr. Heather Igloliorte

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski asinnajaq

WAG-Qaumajuq opened its doors in March 2021 with the inaugural exhibition, INUA: Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut | Inuit Moving Forward Together, curated by representatives from all four corners of Inuit Nunangat. A year on, curators Dr. Heather Igloliorte (who is also co-chair of the WAG’s Indigenous Advisory Circle and President of the Inuit Art Foundation’s Board of Directors), Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, Kablusiak and asinnajaq discuss the themes of futurism, breaking new ground and art’s ability to reflect and engage the Inuit experience.

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

I’m thinking through this idea that artists are breaking trail for future artists by using materials outside of what was considered the norm in Inuit art. For example, the idea that men did the carving and women did the sewing. Looking beyond that trope, we can look at Oviloo Tunnillie’s, RCA (1949–2014) Bust (n.d.). It is a very beautiful but simple piece. And then along the same thread is Rhoda Akpaliapik Karetak’s Vessel (1994) made out of bronze. Not many Inuit artists use bronze as a medium. And then we have Olajuk Kigutikakjuk’s Fishing at the Weir (1980), which also breaks trail. It’s a big sculpture using whalebone and stone. All of these women are multimedia artists and these three pieces really popped out for me as trailblazers.

Heather Igloliorte

What you’re saying reminds me of why we included many of the collections-based works in the exhibition, because we wanted to honour those trailblazers. I know I have told this story before, but it’s part of why I admire Michael Massie, CM, RCA, so greatly. He was also someone that, back in the early ’90s, was working in a medium that people considered to be “not Inuk.” That alone is so unbelievable to me because he was literally working with ulus and with tea kettles and with all these other things that are so important to Inuit culture, it’s just that he was sculpting in metal instead of stone, right? And I remember former editor Marybelle Mitchell telling me that when she put that tiny image of his work in the Inuit Art Quarterly, that she never received so many angry letters. It really puts what artists are doing today into conversation with trailblazers like Massie, because of course, the IAQ is still receiving angry letters from people who feel like they are entitled to decide what should or should not be considered “Inuit art” when to me, it’s anything made by an Inuk. I think it is important that Inuit art has “a cutting edge” and that there is always work that surprises, even upsets audiences, because it ensures there is always something daring, exciting, inventive and innovative happening in Inuit art—while celebrating and honouring the past.

Krista

What sprung out at me was this idea of nostalgia and how through that nostalgia messages are conveyed really strongly. Like Couzyn van Heuvelen’s Sealskin Rug (2021); when I look at it, it evokes nostalgia for Inuit livelihood but also, it looks so comfortable. I want to cuddle up to it and feel all this nostalgia for things from back home, like seeing stretched skins everywhere. If you think about some of these pieces through that lens of nostalgia, like Pudlo Pudlat’s (1916–92) Women At the Fish Lakes (1977), it brings me back to when I was a kid and seeing my Aunties with their big ’80s glasses.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

Heather

We got “Uncle” and the kids in Lindsay McIntyre’s kitchen, Ajjigiingiluktaaqtugut (We Are All Different) (2020), and Couzyn’s rug. All the nostalgia, the dolls do that too, I think. There’s a Maori phrase that translates to something like “walking backwards towards the future.” So, you’re like always looking back as you head in this direction. I think that’s really lovely.

asinnajaq

Absolutely. With all of our ancestor pieces, with Lindsay’s kitchen—all of these things that feel nostalgic.1 It’s also a part of how we ground ourselves. The foundation we’re coming from is always an important part of how we get to the future.

Heather

Shirley Moorhouse’s To Honour the Fire Keepers (2020), for example, is another piece that does this same work where she’s not looking at it as just about her artistic practice, but honouring those who are land protectors and who are on the frontlines trying to ensure that we still have access to basic Inuit rights to land management and stewardship and can follow our responsibilities to the animals. She’s highlighting how those land protectors are also breaking trail.

Olajuk Kigutikakjuk — Fishing at the Weir 1980 Stone and whalebone 29 × 50 × 56 cm

Kablusiak

It’s hard for me to talk about artworks that are about environmentalism or about the destruction of our homelands. It’s really easy for me to doom-spiral into how capitalism and colonialism are such giant monsters. I just wonder, how do we fight these things that are so big and terrifying?

GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

Heather

I also think that is something Bronson Jacque was doing, for example, in creating The Warm Up Shack (2020)—making a demand for a future where we are more conscious of that. He wrote about fish soup in his piece for the INUA audio guide, and how he didn’t ever want to give it up. I don’t want to think that every time I have caribou, is this the last time I am ever going to have caribou again? Is it safe to eat this char? What is our environment going to be like in the future? All of that is super concerning.

assinnajaq — Island lichens 2016 Photograph © THE ARTIST

LEFT

Rhoda Akpaliapik Karetak — Vessel 1994 Bronze 29.5 × 29 × 23 cm GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

BELOW

— Editor’s note: As part of the exhibition, each curator selected for inclusion a work with familial meaning. Elisapi Uppatitsiaq Inukpuk’s dolls, Woman Adopts a Caterpillar (Auvvik) (2003) and To the Church in Kuujjuaraapik (2003), were selected by asinnajaq, her great-niece, while Kablusiak included Arnaq and Angun (2015) by their Anaanak, Ella Nasogak Nasogaluak Brown. Krista Ulujuk Zawadski chose Carved Tusk on Base (1966) by her great-grandfather, Victor Sammurtok and finally Dr. Heather Igloliorte’s “ancestor piece” is Purse (n.d.) by her grandmother Susannah Igloliorte. Together these works greet visitors at the entrance to INUA.

Opening Qaumajuq

It is a David and Goliath situation. I think the way that Isuma created My Little Corner of Canada (2020) was really smart, with four different scenes that come together in the space. It shows audiences how to appreciate what having a connection to the land really means. When the Elder is pointing out what happened over in this particular place, or whose relative was born there or sharing siirnaq (mountain sorrel plant) with the children, she’s sharing her knowledge of the land. And I think that people who are not from the North wouldn’t see that land as being full of landmarks and knowledge. And then it slowly turns and now we’re cleaning sealskins and the kids are on bikes, but then we’re in town and then ending with the public hearings on the resource extraction and finally we’re just reading people’s expressions. And there is just, like you’re saying Kablusiak, that complete frustration of knowing that whatever Inuit say here about their connection to the land, they are not going to be heard. The decision has already been made.

Iniksaq: Making Space

asinnajaq

Krista

PHOTO JOCELYN PIIRAINEN

Inuit Art Quarterly

For me, the opening scenes of the video installation were really powerful. When the Elder pointed to a spot outside the frame and said, “Ubluriaq was born over there,” then shortly after that you see the Mary River public hearings and it was really jarring for me. It was intentionally jarring.

Heather

Yes, I think it was extremely intentional. Think about the Isuma film that you curated for the Venice Biennale, asinnajaq. Every gesture and facial expression in One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019) is just relaying so much. That video has so much subtext—the conversation is happening on one level but the expressions and body language are having this whole other conversation. That’s what Kunuk is so brilliant at capturing.

Kablusiak

I had a conversation with Maureen Gruben in January this year as part of RBC x INUA virtual programming with WAG-Qaumajuq, and I talked to her about how white curators will often speak about her work within an environmentalism framework. That feels like a red flag to me, because that idea implies some sort of extractive relationship to the land is normal and is something that needs to be mended and called attention to. It is very opposite to how Inuit operate; our relationship to land isn’t us being “environmentally friendly,” it’s just us simply existing.

asinnajaq

It’s about being in a web of relation.

Kablusiak

Yeah, to not see environmentalism as something that’s an afterthought.

asinnajaq

It’s a core part of being and a part of the values and action.

Kablusiak

When white curators separate that out, they lose the point. The idea of environmentalism is a white concept that is outside of Indigenous Peoples being in relation to the land. So, when you say Maureen’s work is engaged with an environmental issue, you’re actually imposing a frame on her work. That is not this. She’s working from the land because it’s a part of her and she’s a part of it.

asinnajaq

I think when we’re talking about this framework that gets put onto artists, the one that I think about a lot is this queer framework. I think it’s the same thing, people are being themselves be it Inuk, or Queer (or both) and making their work. Sometimes it’s really political. Sometimes it’s not, but it’s always Inuk or Queer (or both). Because of these frameworks, a lot of amazing artists get overlooked or have to spend their time breaking open the mould. I think, put less limitations on people in their art forms.

Kablusiak

When these frameworks are put upon Inuit artists, and Indigenous folks in general, do you think it’s a way of outsiders trying to figure us out? Or trying to put us in a box to gain some sort of concrete understanding? But the nature of them being outsiders means they’ll never get a true understanding.

RIGHT

Jesse Tungilik’s Sealskin Spacesuit (2019) reflected in portrait detail of Andrew Miller (2016) by Jenny Irene Miller

What’s really incredible is that it’s a subject, I believe, Zack [Zacharias Kunuk, OC, ONu] and the Isuma team, have been thinking about in many ways before. One way is with My Father’s Land (Ataatama Nunanga) (2014), a feature film that a lot of people didn’t pay attention to because it was really agonizing to watch, frustrating, you just want to turn the TV off. But that’s the point: when you’re in these hearings, and people aren’t listening to you; they had already made up their minds. You have the translation, the messed-up communication and it’s your life on the line and you have no power. That’s what that feeling is inside of those public hearings and in those dealings. I think that in this installation, it was another approach to sharing that information. It is so successful. Because up to one point, on one screen, there are people talking about and saying we care about you—you’ll still be able to have a relationship with the land. And then on the other side, you see people really being in relationship with the land and what’s actually at stake and who is actually the stakeholder.

Special Issue 2022

Heather

I think that’s very insightful. A colleague of mine who’s at the University of Winnipeg took her gender and sexuality class to INUA. And the students were talking about and writing responses to it and they were talking about how you can see Jesse Tungilik’s Sealskin Spacesuit (2019) reflected in Jenny Irene Miller’s Continuous photo series (2015–16), which is like a beautiful metaphor for the future. And how those portraits look out over the whole gallery, looking out for each other and for everyone. They also really loved that pairing of Elder Fanny Avatituq’s wallhanging Untitled (Nunavut) (2020) with the spacesuit and the photos all together.

asinnajaq

When we were at the gallery and saw Jenny’s series installed, another feeling that I had was the feeling that our beloved people, who may be vulnerable in any way, are always watching us and seeing our actions and aware of it. And that’s an important thing for us to remember as we live our life and choose how we behave.

ABOVE (LEFT)

Fanny Avatituq — Untitled (Nunavut) 2020 Felt and embroidery thread 156 × 94 cm

Krista

asinnajaq

If I’m going through a hard time, fighting against something, I don’t have as much time to dream and be imaginative and make work that can really build worlds. Instead, I’m fighting against the problem. If we want to have work that’s mind blowing, the less silly things people have to fight against, the more artists can spend time thinking and making work about really important subjects.

Kablusiak

This almost feels full circle to what you had mentioned at the beginning, Krista, about breaking trail and how that path can be stomped down so people can go ahead safely.

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK © THE ARTIST

ABOVE (RIGHT)

Lindsay McIntyre — Ajjigiingiluktaaqtugut (We Are All Different) 2020 Animation on S16mm to digital video, stereo sound and mixed media Dimensions variable COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Is the future of art just accepting people as being people and not imposing these frameworks anymore? Am I being too optimistic?

This conversation has been edited for clarity and condensed.

Special Issue 2022

asinnajaq is the daughter of Carol Rowan and Jobie Weetaluktuk. She is from Inukjuak, Nunavik, QC, and lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal, QC). asinnajaq’s work includes filmmaking, writing and curating. She co-created Tilliraniit, a three-day festival celebrating Inuit art and artists. asinnajaq wrote and directed Three Thousand (2017), a short sci-fi documentary. She co-curated Isuma’s show in the Canadian pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. She was longlisted for the 2020 Sobey Art Award.

BELOW

Shirley Moorhouse — To Honour the Firekeepers 2020 Wallhanging, mixed media Dimensions variable COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI © THE ARTIST

Dr. Heather Igloliorte is a Nunatsiavummiuk-Newfoundlander from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL. She is the University Research Chair in Indigenous Circumpolar Arts at Concordia University in Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal, QC), where she is the Director of the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership project and Co-Director of the Indigenous Futures Research Centre. Her research focuses on Inuit and other circumpolar Indigenous art histories, material and new media art practices and research-creation, critical museology and curatorial studies. Igloliorte has been a curator for 17 years; she is a founding member of GLAM Collective and her recent projects include the nationally and internationally touring Among All These Tundras and SakKijâjuk: Art and Craft from Nunatsiavut. Igloliorte also serves as the Co-Chair of the Indigenous Circle for the Winnipeg Art Gallery with Dr. Julie Nagam, and is the President of the Board of Directors for the Inuit Art Foundation, among other roles.

Kablusiak is a multidisciplinary Inuvialuk artist and curator who uses Inuk ingenuity to create work in a variety of mediums including, but not limited to, lingerie, soapstone, permanent marker, bedsheets, felt and words. Their work explores the dis/connections between existence in the Inuit diaspora while maintaining family and community ties, the impacts of colonization on Inuit gender and sexuality expressions, as well as on health and wellbeing, and the everyday. Kablusiak holds a BFA from AUArts in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, AB, where they are currently based. In all of their creative work Kablusiak seeks to demystify Inuit art and create the space for Inuit-led representation of the diverse aspects of Inuit cultures. Kablusiak’s work can be found in the collections of the Indigenous Art Centre, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Art Gallery of Alberta, Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity and the Global Affairs Visual Art Collection among others. They were shortlisted for the 2019 Sobey Art Award.

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski is from Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU. She is an Inuk anthropologist, researcher, independent curator and maker. She holds a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and is currently a PhD Candidate at Carleton University, Ottawa. Through her doctoral studies, Zawadski has embarked on beading revitalization work in her community. Zawadski’s primary interests are Indigenous academic work and anthropology, museology and collections-based research, with an emphasis on fostering accessibility to collections for Inuit. Spending time with cultural materials in homes and in museum collections, Zawadski uses the belongings as a catalyst to foster engagement between Inuit knowledge holders and younger generations. Taking the same approach to art and art-making, Zawadski uses Inuit belongings and art in personal and museum collections to inspire her creative practice.

Opening Qaumajuq

Iniksaq: Making Space

Reflecting on the Journey to Qaumajuq

by Jocelyn Piirainen

still designing this opener

and Beyo A curator reflects on the monumental changes underway at WAG-Qaumajuq, made visible through a series of recent exhibitions, and the exciting future that lies ahead.

ond

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

In March 2019 I visited the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) for the first time and walked through its expansive vaults—a series of rooms that hold the largest collection of Inuit art in North America. I had just been hired as the Assistant Curator of Inuit Art and had immediately begun preparing my first exhibition at the WAG. At this time, the building that was tentatively known as the Inuit Art Centre was a massive construction site that left much to the imagination. My first week working at the WAG was mostly spent down inside those underground art vaults. Our Inuit collection could not be contained in a single space, but scattered across different vault areas that only our trusted vault technician, Dan Donaldson, and Curator of Inuit Art, Darlene Coward Wight, knew where exactly to look for a particular piece. For my first exhibition, I was looking for the smallest pieces of our collection—the miniatures that were hiding behind the larger stone carvings, waiting for their time in the spotlight. As it were, most of the hundred or so pieces in my inaugural exhibition—Small Worlds: Inuit Miniature Carving (2019)—were selected from the Government of Nunavut’s Fine Art Collection, a collection that we have been holding in trust at WAG-Qaumajuq since 2015 and had not been exhibited before. One such piece is Gino Akka’s Nesting Birds (n.d.), which sits at a mere 11.5 centimetres long and 4.5 centimetres high, and recreates an arctic scene of migratory birds nesting along rocky cliffs. The tiny ivory birds are only millimetres in size, but are carved in a delicate manner and sit right atop the cliffs, made naturally from the root of a walrus tusk. Seeing these miniatures come together was inspiring for me not only as a curator but as an artist. I imagine those who came through the Small Worlds exhibition have also been inspired and left in awe of the talent of these Inuit artists. After this first exhibition, time seemed to speed up. In the remaining months of 2019, Qaumajuq’s construction progressed significantly: walls were built, galleries and spaces had taken shape and we were set to open Qaumajuq to the public the following summer.

Gino Akka — Nesting Birds n.d. Ivory, bone and walrus tusk 4.5 × 11.5 × 5 cm GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY OF WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

ABOVE

Installation view of Inuk Style, 2020. COURTESY OF WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK

OPPOSITE (ABOVE)

Kananginak Pootoogook — Making Sealskin Kamiks 1987 Printmaker Pitseolak Niviaqsi Lithograph 52 × 64 cm GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION COURTESY OF WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE (BELOW)

Installation view of INUA: Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut, 2021. COURTESY OF WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO SERGE GUMENYUK

Opening Qaumajuq

Qaumajuq and Beyond

However, it was the middle of March 2020 when we closed our doors to the public and staff alike, amid the growing health and safety concerns around the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were unsure of when we would open again and continued to work from home. During this time, I was working toward opening two exhibitions in collaboration with our then Curator of Indigenous and Contemporary Art, Jaimie Isaac—subsist and ᐃ. subsist examined political, economic and social systems of subsistence and explored discussions surrounding the seal hunt. To me, Kananginak Pootoogook (1935–2010), RCA, Making Sealskin Kamiks (1987) is one of the most important pieces included in subsist, as it thoughtfully portrays the ongoing tradition of making a pair of kamiik using different parts of a sealskin. ᐃ (the syllabic for “i”) touched on a collective self-determination and solidarity in language reclamation by Indigenous Peoples and nations. While the global pandemic slowed down many of our events and programs, the construction of Qaumajuq continued and by the end of 2020 we were handed the keys (so to speak) to the new building. One of the major tasks before opening to the public was to populate the new visible glass vault with pieces from our expansive Inuit art collection. Over the course of about four months, this task was accomplished with a small team of staff, including myself, as we managed to move and place more than 4,500 stone carvings from our old vault—where I had spent my memorable first week—to this new working vault. The second biggest task was preparing for the inaugural exhibit INUA: Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut. Curated by four Inuk co-curators, asinnajaq, Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Kablusiak and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, this exhibition was our largest installation to date and I was responsible for bringing it all together as the project manager. This was especially challenging during the pandemic, as I was the primary

member of the team who was on site; most of the curators only had the opportunity to see the space in person during the final weeks of installation, following mandatory quarantine, so I was the “eyes and ears” of the curatorial team for several months. The new gallery spaces in Qaumajuq were filled with contemporary pieces by Inuit artists from across Inuit Nunangat and were blessed in ceremony by Indigenous Elders before the official opening. It was a whirlwind opening weekend and one that we managed with safety measures in place. Since the opening of Qaumajuq, I’ve continued to showcase pieces that have not been exhibited before and to highlight some of the amazing textile artists and seamstresses in my latest exhibition, Inuk Style (2020–22). What’s more, I recently mentored a young emerging Inuk curator and artist, Zoe Ohokannoak, on the curation of their first exhibition Kakiniit/ Hivonighijotaa: Inuit Embodied Practices and Meanings (2022), which features a wonderful selection of pieces that relate to traditional Inuit tattoos. As Qaumajuq continues to grow, my hopes for the future are that it is kept as a dedicated space for Inuit and other Indigenous artists and where those same artists feel completely comfortable and supported not only by staff here but also by the local community in Winnipeg. I hope we will nurture new and continuing relationships with artists and curators from across the globe and continue to push the boundaries of Inuit artistic practices. I especially look forward to welcoming Inuit curators to explore and work with our collection. – Jocelyn Piirainen is an urban Inuk, originally from Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), NU, and is currently working as the Associate Curator of Inuit Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Qaumajuq in Manitoba. When not working as a curator, her artistic practice involves experimenting with Polaroids and Super 8 film, as well as honing her crochet and beading skills.

OPPOSITE

Unidentified artist — Amautik c. 1995 Wool duffel, glass beads, nylon fringe, cotton ribbon, cotton thread and felt 150 × 90 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MAYER

RIGHT

Jocelyn Piirainen (left) and Zoe Ohokannoak (right) installing Kakiniit/ Hivonighijotaa: Inuit Embodied Practices, 2022. PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI

Opening Qaumajuq

Qaumajuq and Beyond

WHEN STORIES SHAPE THE BUILDING:

D E S IGNING Q A U MAJUQ

Architectural historian Marieke Gruwel speaks with WAG-Qaumajuq Director and CEO Dr. Stephen Borys, Design Architect Michael Maltzan and Associate Architect Michael Robertson about the design process of Qaumajuq and how it encapsulates reconciliation, reciprocity and responsibility.

MARIEKE GRUWEL: Stephen, from the six finalists that were chosen from the dozens of worldwide submissions you received to the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s (WAG)’s open call for expressions of interest to design the new building, what was it about Michael Maltzan’s design that appealed to the selection committee? STEPHEN BORYS: From the start, what impressed the jury was Michael’s interest and desire to learn more about Inuit culture and go deeper—to understand more about the people, their art, the land and stories. He looked at the Inuit collection as modern and contemporary art rather than as artifacts or historical objects. At all points, Michael was pushing us to rethink the museum model. He asked us questions that we hadn’t yet pondered or had the answers to in terms of what is a museum today? And he listened. MARIEKE GRUWEL: Michael, your presentation to the jury was titled “An Inclusive and Responsive Design.” What does an inclusive and responsive design mean and did that meaning change during the design process? MICHAEL MALTZAN: I thought that meant we had a number of responsibilities. First and foremost, the Inuit Art Centre (IAC) had a significant responsibility to the artists, the communities and the culture that it was going to be home to, or at least connect with. A responsibility to the work, its display and how people would engage with it. Not only in the beginning, but also anticipating how the art would continue to evolve. The second part was a responsibility to the existing WAG building, designed by Gustavo da Roza. It has had an iconic presence in Winnipeg. The responsibility was to find a way to give the IAC its own identity for da Roza’s building to maintain its own identity and for the two to try to develop a balanced relationship where each were at their own strengths, but together created something just as strong, if not stronger. A third part was a responsibility to the urban setting and to find ways to make the architecture a real catalyst for an accessible, inclusive and strong social and cultural life in Winnipeg. PREVIOUS & ABOVE

COURTESY OF WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LINDSAY REID

MICHAEL ROBERTSON: The meaning of that idea—inclusive and responsive—evolved over the course of the course of the project really started to change the way we, the local partners, thought about reconciliation. It opened my eyes about the idea of walking together, reconciliation meaning a path for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The architecture as a tool to advance these ideas is something that changed for me as the project evolved, as we got to be more listeners and learners in that context.

Opening Qaumajuq

Qaumajuq at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2021. COURTESY OF WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO LINDSAY REID

Ilavut (Our Relatives) at WAG-Qaumajuaq, 2021.

Designing Qaumajuq

“How do you make the majority of a collection part of the visitor experience but not a curiosity? The vault is not just a bigger display vitrine, it is also a place where curators and conservators work. In a sense, it was the back of house being turned into the front of house.”

MARIEKE GRUWEL: Michael [Maltzan] and Stephen, during the design process you took two trips, one to Europe and another to the Arctic. How did these travels impact the development of the project? MICHAEL MALTZAN: The trip to the North was a transformative experience. Being in that landscape and getting a sense of it had enormous effects on the design. Coming out of that trip, I felt an even greater burden of responsibility. But I also felt that there were the kernels of some very important things that architecture could do to relate to the culture, the art and the way of making that the artists are involved in. STEPHEN BORYS: It was not just about the art we saw and the people we met, but also the land, the vistas, the colours and textures and the scale of the North at times immense and then intimate. It was remarkable how Michael’s design shifted after the Arctic trip; and what came out of it was much more than I could have ever anticipated. MICHAEL MALTZAN: The trip to Europe was also very important. I came away from that trip with a very clear sense that there are ways that work of a specific culture gets displayed that becomes almost anthropological. We all felt that we had to find ways to not go down that path and succumb to traditional curatorial thinking. MARIEKE GRUWEL: Michael [Robertson], can you talk about Cibinel Architecture’s involvement throughout the project? MICHAEL ROBERTSON: As the local partners, the way we saw our job was as aides to the WAG and Maltzan in delivering a unique vision. As architects, when we go to world-class buildings, one of the things that takes you out of the experience is when the details are poorly realized and poorly delivered. We knew that the concept would be powerful and our part was to not let the delivery of the detailing get in the way of that experience. That may sound simple, but it’s a complex exercise to realize.

Inuit Art Quarterly

MARIEKE GRUWEL: I think one of the most stunning features of Qaumajuq is the glass vault in Ilavut (Our Relatives), in the centre of the new building. What inspired the design of the Visible Vault? MICHAEL MALTZAN: The vault as a concept came directly out of conversations we were having about the WAG, the IAC and museums in general. The largest proportion of a museum collection is something that people don’t normally see because it’s sitting in storage. Stephen talked about the responsibility the gallery has to the artists and to the communities. That their work was going to be seen by people, be accessible and part of conversations on a regular basis. The vault started as an idea and became a real question: How do you make the majority of a collection part of the visitor experience but not a curiosity? The vault is not just a bigger display vitrine, it is also a place where curators and conservators work. In a sense, it was the back of house being turned into the front of house. MARIEKE GRUWEL: Stephen, you’ve stated that Qaumajuq is an advocate for the “new museum.” What is the new museum to you? STEPHEN BORYS: For me, the new museum is a forum, a welcoming and accessible place, a creative conversation with new voices and perspectives. It’s a rethinking of the hierarchy of decision making and who is at the table when we talk about art and artmaking. The museum reflects, responds to—and is—the community in many ways. It’s an ideas lab where new and different things matter and where everyone is relevant. MARIEKE GRUWEL: How can the concepts of the new museum be articulated in architectural form? MICHAEL MALTZAN: The conversations around the new museum always centred on two things: the artists and the visitors’ experience in relation to the art. The hidden hierarchies of the traditional museum don’t exist in Qaumajuq. It’s a space that

Special Issue 2022

resists easy definition. Any time architecture can ask a question, it’s doing a service culturally. For architecture to provoke us to say, “Why is it like that?” starts a dialogue. Even if it’s just a dialogue in your own mind, it’s the foundation of a conversation. MARIEKE GRUWEL: Qaumajuq’s goal is to reach further and deeper to create spaces where everyone feels welcome, at home and represented. How is the new building helping achieve that goal? STEPHEN BORYS: Qaumajuq is a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action for museums. It is focused on unpacking, dismantling and reworking the colonial narrative that has been embedded in the culture of museums in North America. The experience of Qaumajuq may not always begin with art: it might start with a film or workshop, some reading, time in the café or the shop, or hanging out by the Visible Vault, which just happens to be the largest of its kind in the world. And so much of this experience is up to the visitor—and what they want to see, feel and enjoy. MICHAEL ROBERTSON: As much as we love da Roza’s building as an architectural piece, it’s so opaque. There is an alignment between that experience of opacity and a feeling of exclusion that Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities and peoples experience from institutions. The literal and metaphorical removal of barriers is really important.

Inuit Art Quarterly

You can’t underestimate the value of looking and seeing art that is Indigenous, seeing the sculptures in the front welcoming you in. MICHAEL MALTZAN: The real test is going to be how Qaumajuq evolves over time. My hope is that Qaumajuq will continue to tell stories that range wildly from what we imagined. At that point, the stories begin to own the building. For me, that would be a beautiful thing to be able to say about the building in 10, 20, 30 years. MARIEKE GRUWEL: What role can architecture play in seeking reconciliation and Indigenizing cultural spaces? MICHAEL ROBERTSON: It’s a massively complex undertaking for a nation, let alone a city or an institution. It’s a commitment to structural change and a process of establishing and maintaining respectful relations. The exciting thing is that architecture can be a vehicle and a tributary in the path to reconciliation. It’s the process of engaging and listening. It’s how we can, in our part, respect this inherent right to agency. In the case of Qaumajuq, it’s not just about the building. It’s the series of programs and outreach that’s built around it. The building in itself is beautiful and the story of it is beautiful, but it’s the building and all the pieces around it as a complete undertaking that truly makes it a contributor to the ideas of reconciliation and Indigenization.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and condensed.

Special Issue 2022

MARIEKE GRUWEL (she/her) has an MA in Art History from Concordia University (2019) and an BA Hons from the University of Winnipeg (2016). She is an architectural historian and curator with the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation.

OPPOSITE

Qaumajuq under construction, 2018. COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ

ABOVE

Michael Maltzan’s early sketch of the Qaumajuq building, 2013.

DR. STEPHEN BORYS is Director & CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Qaumajuq and has held curatorial posts at the Ringling Museum of Art, Oberlin College and the National Gallery of Canada. He holds an EMBA, PhD from McGill University, MA from University of Toronto and a BA from the University of Winnipeg.

COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ

MICHAEL MALTZAN founded Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. in 1995. His projects cross a wide range of typologies, from cultural institutions to city infrastructure. Maltzan’s notable projects include the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, MoMA QNS, Star Apartments, the Pittman Dowell Residence, the new Sixth Street Viaduct, MIT Vassar Street Residential Hall and the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit art centre, Qaumajuq. MICHAEL ROBERTSON joined Cibinel Architecture as Partner and Principal Architect in 2014 and has been in practice for 20 years. Robertson received his Master of Architecture degree and his BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Manitoba. Robertson has developed expertise designing and delivering major capital projects with academic, institutional and culturally focused clients.

Opening Qaumajuq

Designing Qaumajuq

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Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

Sharing knowledge, building community, together. The University of Winnipeg is a proud neighbour to Qaumajuq, the Inuit Art Centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. It is a privilege to have the world’s largest collection of contemporary Inuit Art adjacent to

Suzannah Igloliorte ᓱᓵᓇ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᕐᑎ Purse ᐴᒃᓴᖅ, n.d beads, tanned hide, fabric Private collection

T23-77961

uwinnipeg.ca

the University. This centre provides a canvas of learning and opportunities for students, faculty, alumni and community members to have firsthand experiences with Inuit knowledge, cultural histories, languages, and art.

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Igliniit: Creating a New Path 1971 Selected Eskimo Sculptures from the Twomey Collection

1957 First Inuit art acquired Five sculptures are purchased for the Winnipeg Art Gallery collection, including Pinnie Naktialuk’s (1930–1969) Mother Sewing Kamik (1954).

1980 The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood to Be Full

SEPTEMBER 25–DECEMBER 31, 1971

Organized for the opening of the new gallery building, curated by Jacqueline Fry, Curator of Non-Western Art.

AUGUST 9–OCTOBER 26, 1980

International touring exhibition to three European centres, curated by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad, Associate Curator of Inuit Art.

1973 1961 Eskimo Prints from Glenbow MARCH 9–APRIL 9, 1961

First Inuit art exhibition opened at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

John Kaunak, an Artist from Repulse Bay MAY–SEPTEMBER 1973

Major solo exhibition of John Kaunak, curated by Marsha Twomey, Acting Curator of Non-Western Art.

1977 Looking South

1967

JULY 15–SEPTEMBER 4, 1977

Touring exhibitions to five Canadian centres, curated by Jean Blodgett.

Keewatin Eskimo Ceramics ’67 NOVEMBER 8–22, 1967

Touring exhibition and sale, organized by the Junior League of Toronto, the Toronto Public Library and the Department of Indian Affairs & Northern Development.

1976 Creatures Formed and Transformed NOVEMBER 7, 1975–JANUARY 4, 1976

1967 Tikito of Cape Dorset NOVEMBER 8–22, 1967

First solo exhibition of an Inuit artist, Tikitu Qinnuayuak (1908–1992).

Curated by Jean Blodgett, WAG’s first Curator of Inuit Art. Blodgett’s first exhibition for the WAG.

A selection of significant moments in the long history of Inuit art at WAG-Qaumajuq. 1995 Immaginario Inuit: Arte e cultura degli esquimese canadesi

1987 Oonark’s Family

MARCH 19–JULY 9, 1995

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight, in collaboration with Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Palazzo Forti, Verona, Italy.

OCTOBER 18, 1986–FEBRUARY 1, 1987

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight, Curator of Inuit Art. Wight’s first exhibition for the WAG.

1991

1982

Zacharias Kunuk, WAG Artist-in-Residence

Inuit Myths, Legends and Songs

MARCH 1991

MARCH 12–MAY 2, 1982

Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Kunuk’s residency focused on film work as well as photography workshops at the gallery.

Canadian touring exhibition, curated by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad.

1987

1995

Jessie Oonark: A Retrospective

The Ashoona Family of Cape Dorset

NOVEMBER 16, 1986–FEBRUARY 15, 1987

NOVEMBER 19, 1994–MAY 14, 1995

Canadian touring exhibition, guest curated by Jean Blodgett and Marie Bouchard.

Inuit Art on the Mezzanine, curated by Tracey Longbottom, Aboriginal Curatorial Intern.

1983 Baker Lake Prints and Print Drawings: 1970–76

1993 A la Rencontre des inuit

FEBRUARY 27–APRIL 17, 1983

Canadian touring exhibition, curated by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad.

MAY–JULY 7, 1993

1990 The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art JUNE 30–NOVEMBER 18, 1990

National touring exhibition, curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

Presented at the Musée Océanographique de Monaco, curated by Darlene Coward Wight In collaboration with Arctic Co-operatives Limited.

2018

2001

All-Inuit Guest Curatorial Team Announced

Holman: Forty Years of Graphic Art/ Quarante ans d’art graphique

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

2013

MARCH 22–AUGUST 19, 2001

Creation & Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art

Touring exhibition, curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

asinnajaq, Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Kablusiak and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski named as curatorial team for the inaugural Inuit Art Centre exhibition.

JANUARY 31–APRIL 14, 2013

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

2018 Qaumajuq Breaks Ground

2010 Andrew Qappik: Pangnirtung Memories

MAY 25, 2018

Canada’s first and oldest civic art gallery, breaks ground on the future Inuit Art Centre.

APRIL 29–AUGUST 1, 2010

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

2015 Elisapee Ishulutaq FEBRUARY 14–MAY 31, 2015

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

2002 Abraham Anghik Ruben

2016 Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone

SEPTEMBER 19, 2001– MARCH 3, 2002

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

MAY 21–SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

2011 Nunavik North of 60º OCTOBER 16, 2010– MARCH 24, 2011

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

2018 Pitaloosie Saila: A Personal Journey OCTOBER 2, 2017–APRIL 1, 2018

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight and guest curator Susan Gustavison.

This timeline was compiled by Darlene Coward Wight, Curator of Inuit Art at WAG-Qaumajuq, and edited by the IAQ.

2019 Mary Yuusipik Singaqti: Back River Memories

2021 Tuniigusiia/The Gift by Goota Ashoona Unveiled

NOVEMBER 10, 2018–APRIL 21, 2019

Curated by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight.

JANUARY 21, 2021

2020

Commissioned with funds by The Manitoba Teachers’ Society on behalf of Manitoba’s public school teachers.

Inuk Style OCTOBER 10, 2020–JUNE 19, 2022

Curated by Jocelyn Piirainen.

2021 Time to Play by Abraham Anghik Ruben Unveiled

2019

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Nivinngajuliaat from Baker Lake

Commissioned with funds from Tannis Richardson, CM, LLD.

NOVEMBER 17, 2018–MARCH 24, 2019

Guest curated by Krista Ulujuk Zawadski.

2020 Qaumajuq Gets a Name OCTOBER 28, 2020

Indigenous language keepers formally name Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre.

2021 INUA MARCH 27, 2021–PRESENT

Curated by asinnajaq, Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Kablusiak and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski.

2019 Small Worlds: Inuit Miniature Carving JULY 20–DECEMBER 30, 2019

Curated by Jocelyn Piirainen, Associate Curator of Inuit Art. Piirainen’s first exhibition for the WAG.

2021 WAG-Qaumajuq Opens to the Public March 27, 2021

photo: Lindsay Reid

Ensure the love for your collection lasts forever Your shelf Your artwork Your love Your lasting legacy The visible vault is a way for you to ensure your love for Inuit art is visible You can secure a shelf in the visible vault, where your name and tribute will be forever associated with Inuit art. Donate your collection If you’d like to donate a work or pieces from your collection, consider WAG-Qaumajuq, where it can be exhibited and enjoyed. Give Gifts of all sizes ensure art is cared for and experienced for generations to come. To make a donation, adopt a shelf, or for questions contact Taylor Goodson at 204.789.1344 or tgoodson@wag.ca. To give online: wag.ca/donate

it is bright, it is lit

The Long Road to Qaumajuq / The Lo

Despite its distance from northern communities, the city of Winnipeg is known as a hub of Inuit creativity and culture. But how did the Winnipeg Art Gallery originally become a centre for Inuit art? From the early days of its first collections to the building of WAGQaumajuq, the gallery’s longtime Curator of Inuit Art answers the question: “Why Winnipeg?”

by Dr. Darlene Coward Wight

Since 1964, the Winnipeg Art GalleryQaumajuq has organized 191 exhibitions featuring work by Inuit artists. Of those, 28 have toured to venues throughout Canada and Europe, while 53 have been accompanied by illustrated catalogues with international distribution. Beyond this, almost two-dozen exhibitions of Inuit art organized by other museums and galleries have been hosted at the gallery. Through it all, one of the most frequent questions that is posed, and one that I, myself, have been asked many times over the years, in regards to the Inuit art collection at WAG-Qaumajuq, is “Why Winnipeg?” Although the city has had long-standing connections with the Arctic for decades in the areas of medical services, government administration and scientific studies, and

has been home to the Hudson’s Bay Company headquarters (HBC) since the city’s first settlement in 1812, Winnipeg’s exciting history and evolving relationship with Inuit artists requires us to also consider a number of personalities who influenced the establishment of Inuit art as an important focus at the WAG—one that has continued for almost 70 years. Four years before Viennese art historian George Swinton arrived in the city in 1954 to teach at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art, he had acquired his first Inuit sculpture in Montreal, QC. His interest was renewed by his Winnipeg neighbour, Clifford Wilson, long-time editor of the HBC magazine, The Beaver (now Canada’s History). Swinton was soon assisting the HBC with assessing carvings after they

arrived in Winnipeg from several of the company’s trading posts. In 1957 Swinton made his first trip to the Arctic to write a report for the HBC. He visited camps near present-day Inukjuak and Puvirnituq, Nunavik, QC, met artists and watched them at work. His knowledge of individual artists culminated in Eskimo Sculpture/Sculpture Esquimaude (1965), the first book ever written about contemporary Inuit art. It was a paean to the diversity and stylistic individuality of Inuit carvers. It was also during this period that the WAG made a serious commitment to collecting Inuit art when in 1960 it purchased 139 major pieces from Swinton. Then-Director Dr. Ferdinand Eckhardt was, like Swinton, from Vienna. After his arrival in 1953, Eckhardt quickly took note

Road to Qaumajuq / The Long Road to Qaumajuq

ong Road to Qaumajuq / The Long

LEGACY

of the Inuit carvings for sale in the HBC store. The burgeoning Inuit art collection benefited from Eckhardt and Swinton’s friendship and from the active Women’s Committee of volunteers that raised acquisition funds for the gallery, as well as from the Gallery Shop, enthusiastically managed by committee member Marjorie Drache for many years. The Women’s Committee Chair was Eileen Abbott, who had first observed Inuit carvings at the Canadian Handicrafts Guild’s (now La Guilde) historic first sales exhibition in Montreal in 1949. She purchased a carving for her sister, Bessie Bulman, long-time Chair of the Manitoba Branch of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild (later renamed the Crafts Guild of Manitoba). In 1952 the guild began selling Inuit carvings. Today, many private collections throughout the city can be traced back to this time. In 1957 Eckhardt received funds from the Women’s Committee to purchase the gallery’s first five pieces of Inuit sculpture, including the large Mother Sewing Kamik (1954) by Pinnie Naktialuk (1930–1969). The Gallery Shop began selling Inuit art in the late 1950s and became a distributor of the annual Cape Dorset Print Collection, beginning with the first official historic collection in 1959. Winnipeg gallerist Faye Settler traced her initial interest in Inuit art to the purchase of a Kenojuak Ashevak CC, ONu, RCA (1927–2013) print from the Gallery Shop in 1960. The gallery began organizing exhibitions of Inuit sculpture in 1961. In 1964, Swinton helped organize a groundbreaking exhibition and catalogue, Eskimo Carvers of Keewatin, N.W.T., that gave important initial exposure to new sculpture from Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU, created as the result of a 1961 government arts and crafts program in that community. Jean Blodgett, Canada’s first Curator of Inuit Art, joined the WAG in 1975 and a high standard for research began. In four years, Blodgett curated a number of major exhibitions such as Karoo Ashevak (1977), the gallery’s first major retrospective exhibition. Bernadette Driscoll (Engelstad) took over as curator in late 1979. The WAG’s major acquisition of Qamani’tuaq print-drawings in 1980 was the impetus for an exhibition that compared prints to their original designs: Baker Lake Prints and Print-Drawings 1970–76 (1983). For the exhibition, Driscoll conducted many interviews with artists in the community. Her research expanded to other communities for the exhibitions Inuit Myths, Legends & Songs (1982) and Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art (1985).

Inuit Art Quarterly

Driscoll left the gallery in September 1985, but before her departure, she initiated a major touring exhibition, Jessie Oonark: A Retrospective (1986–87), which was taken over by guest curators Jean Blodgett and Marie Bouchard. This exhibition was important in establishing Jessie Oonark, CM, RCA (1906-85) as one of the most talented graphic and textile artists in Canada. In May 1986 I was hired as Curator of Inuit Art. After five years of working for Canadian Arctic Producers, the central marketing agency for art co-operatives, and travelling extensively in the Arctic, I felt ready to put that experience to more research-oriented work. A first task in 1986 was cataloguing the Ian Lindsay Collection. The first part of the collection came to the gallery in 1985, followed by donations in 1989 and 1994, ultimately totalling 424 carvings, textiles and works on paper. About 110 of Lindsay’s carvings date to the early 1950s, forming one of the finest existing collections of early contemporary carvings. This collection provided the impetus for my research into that early period, which was published in the catalogue for The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art (1990), and later in Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture, 1949–1955 (2006). In 1989 the gallery received a monumental donation of 1,400 prints and drawings from Canada’s Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (now Crown-Indigenous and Northern Relations Canada) when its Inuit Art Section dispersed its collection. The following year, Holman Eskimo Co-operative in Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT asked the WAG to act as an archive for its print collections that had begun in 1970. This resulted in a total donation of 881 Ulukhaktok (Holman) prints by the time the co-op discontinued its print program in 2000. A retrospective exhibition, Holman: Forty Years of Graphic Art, was held at the WAG in 2001. That same year I organized Out of Tradition, featuring sculptures by brothers David Ruben Piqtoukun and Abraham Anghik Ruben, CM, originally from the Western Arctic community of Paulatuk, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT. It was one of the first exhibitions in Canada showing pieces by Inuit artists working outside of their Arctic birthplaces and was later followed by solo exhibitions for both of these trailblazing artists in 1996 and 2001 respectively. In 1999, the gallery commissioned Ruben to create the stunning whale-bone sculpture, Kittigazuit. The mid to late 1990s saw the WAG co-curate a number of international exhibitions, bringing Inuit art to the world. Audiences in Monaco, Italy and Greece were

Special Issue 2022

LEGACY

Akeeaktashuk — Mother Pulling Up Hood 1953 Stone 18.7 × 13.5 × 6.6 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

RIGHT

Davidialuk Alasua Amittu — Mythological Bird 1958 Stone 43.4 × 38.2 × 16.5 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

BELOW (RIGHT)

Jeannie Arnaanuk — Replica of Shaman Qingailisaq’s coat 1982 Caribou fur, cotton, cotton thread, sinew and cotton ribbon 109 × 81.5 × 15 cm COURTESY GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

BELOW (LEFT)

Pinnie (Benjamin) Naktialuk — Mother Sewing Kamik 1954 Stone, ivory and black inlay 33 × 28.1 × 28.1 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

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LEGACY

Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

LEGACY

OPPOSITE (ABOVE)

introduced to the work of Inuit artists through a variety of curatorial partnerships, including a collaboration with Canadian Arctic Producers for the 1993 exhibition A la rencontre des Inuit, which was presented at the Musée Océanographique in Monaco. Years of research among artists in the Nattilingmiut communities of Talurjuaq, Uqsuqtuuq (Gjoa Haven) and Kugaaruk, NU, culminated in the major exhibition and catalogue, Art & Expression of the Netsilik (1997). In 2010 a solo retrospective, Kiugak Ashoona: Stories and Imaginings from Cape Dorset, was the result of many interviews conducted with the artist over the years. It was the first time Ashoona’s drawings had been featured in an exhibition. I have always been interested in bringing forward the stories and experiences of Inuit women through exhibitions. During my travels I learned that Inuit women are important knowledge keepers. Many artists have described falling asleep at night listening to their grandmothers telling the stories they heard in their own youth. These stories live on in the art of female Inuit artists and through exhibitions I curated such as Germaine Arnaktauyok (1998) and Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone (2016). In February 2016, WAG-Qaumajuq finalized an agreement with the Government of Nunavut that put in motion a long-term loan to the gallery of 7,400 art, craft and clothing items that had long been in storage in Yellowknife and other locations. They have since been catalogued, digitized and featured in many exhibitions, including the major inaugural exhibition, INUA, on view in Qaumajuq’s 8,000-square-foot main gallery, Qilak (Sky). In my 36 years as Inuit art curator at the WAG, I have seen the collection expand to 12,200 works. Sculpture is the largest part of this, at about 7,400 works. These are now stored in new vaults in Qaumajuq, including a three-story glass visible vault, located in the expansive Qaumajuq entrance hall, Ilavut (Our Relatives). My curation of this vault took place over 10 months in 2020 and allows visitors to explore 4,500 stone sculptures organized by community and artist. Interactive computer screens provide information for all works on view. For seven decades, the WAG-Qaumajuq’s involvement with Inuit art and artists has also been a story of the desire to increase access to the Inuit art collection for communities through the North as well as the general public. Over the past 15 years, commitment by the WAG Board of Directors, and the leadership of Director and CEO Dr. Stephen Borys, have moved the dream of a centre for Inuit art into the inspiring reality of Qaumajuq. With increased physical and digital access to the gallery’s collections, and expanding involvement for Inuit, the next decades promise to be an exciting new chapter in the gallery’s history.

Nelson Takkiruq — Double Shaman Drum Dancer 1989 Whale bone and stone 25.2 × 31.5 × 12.5 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE (BELOW)

Jessie Oonark — Big Woman 1974 Coloured pencil and ink 56.3 × 76.1 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

– Dr. Darlene Coward Wight has researched and curated Inuit art since 1981. Wight has been the Curator of Inuit Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery since 1986. In that time she has curated 96 exhibitions and written 26 exhibition catalogues, as well as many smaller publications and articles.

ABOVE

Sheokjuk Oqutaq — Mother and Child 1952 Stone, ivory and black colouring 19.5 × 10.8 × 8.5 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ PHOTO ERNEST MEYER © THE ARTIST

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ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒻᒪᕆᒃ

DOUBLE VISION DOUBLE REGARD

ᔭᓯ ᐆᓇᖅ Jessie Oonark ᔮᓂᑦ ᑭᒍᓯᐅᖅ Janet Kigusiuq ᕕᒃᑐᕆᔭ ᒪᒻᖑᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ Victoria Mamnguqsualuk Curated by Candice Hopkins as part of the 2022 Toronto Biennial of Art Project Partner

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The Goring Family Foundation Chris Bredt and Jamie Cameron Installation view of ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒻᒪᕆᒃ Double Vision. Photo by Darren Rigo.

EXHIBITION | MARCH 09, 2022 TO MARCH 31, 2023

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LAST LOOK

Abraham Anghik Ruben Time to Play

Goota Ashoona Tuniigusiia/The Gift

LEFT

BELOW

In Winter 2021, two newly commissioned sculptures drastically changed the corner of St. Mary Avenue and Memorial Boulevard in downtown Winnipeg, MB, creating a permanent welcome for visitors to WAG-Qaumajuq. Time to Play (2021) by Inuvialuk sculptor Abraham Anghik Ruben and Tuniigusiia/The Gift (2021) by Kinngait-born and Manitoba-based Goota Ashoona, both crafted from massive pieces of stone, are a fitting tribute to the themes of kinship, intergenerality and community around which Wag-Qaumajuq was conceptualized, built and shared with the world. Ruben’s Time to Play features a family of polar bears carved in pale Indiana limestone. Depicting a mother bear and her rambunctious cubs, the work was designed specifically with children and youth in mind. Similarly, Ashoona’s Tuniigusiia simultaneously depicts a mother teaching her daughter the art of katajjaq, foregrounding knowledge transfer through education and storytelling, and the vital role of teachers in our communities while also sharing Nuliajuk’s story with old and new audiences. Reflected in the three-storey glass vault Ilavut (Our Relatives) and beyond, both Ruben and Ashoona’s new works are sited in relation to treasured artworks created by the artist’s own families, fellow community members and friends. In their steadfast presence, Ruben and Ashoona’s artistic contributions have laid the groundwork and hold space for past, present and future Inuit artists to see themselves represented and welcomed as long-term collaborators at WAG-Qaumajuq. Inuit Art Quarterly

Special Issue 2022

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2022

The Free Press is turning 150! Thanks to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, we can share this celebration with all of you! Visit WAG-Qaumajuq to experience an exhibition celebrating over 150 years of Free Press history.

OPENING NOVEMBER 2022