Content warning: This article contains brief mention of residential schools.
Helen Iguptak Featured on Annual Truth and Reconciliation Canada Post Stamp
To commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30—a day to acknowledge and honour residential school survivors—Canada Post released a series of stamps featuring artwork by three artists who are residential school survivors, one of whom is Inuk textile artist Helen Iguptak. From Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU, Iguptak is best known for making Inuit dolls, an art form she learned as a child at residential school under the wing of an older girl. She revisited the practice in the 1990s and became well-known for her dolls, one of which is now featured on the stamp. This marks the third year that Canada Post’s annual Truth and Reconciliation stamps focus on artwork by residential school survivors. The two other artists featured this year are Robert Burke, a Métis and Black painter, and Adrian Stimson, a Two-Spirit member of the Siksika Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta who works as an interdisciplinary artist.
Inuit Artists Honoured with King Charles III Coronation Medal
On September 20, a number of Inuit—including three artists who work in the visual and performing arts—were awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for their significant contributions to arts and culture. The artists recognized include throat singer Evie Mark from Ivujivik, Nunavik, QC; multidisciplinary artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, based in Iqaluit, NU; and singer-songwriter and beader Beatrice Deer, from Quaqtaq, Nunavik, QC. The medals were presented by Governor General Mary Simon, who is from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, in a ceremony at the Citadelle de Québec. The King Charles III Coronation Medal program was announced in May 2023 after the coronation of the new monarch. It recognizes those who have made significant contributions in various fields.
Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich Selected for $50,000 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship
Multidisciplinary artist Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich is among five Indigenous artists selected for the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship with the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Based in Anchorage/Cohoe, Alaska, Gingrich is Koyukon Dene and Iñupiaq and makes work across a range of media—including carvings, paintings, beadwork and photography—inspired by her heritage. She has exhibited her work in solo shows, including Kaviqsaaq Qivliaq-taaq Siññaktut (Red Silver Dreams) (2023) at the Alaska Pacific University Gallery in Anchorage and at many group exhibitions, including We’ve Been Gathering Places (2024) at form & concept Gallery in Sante Fe, New Mexico. During the fellowship, Gingrich and the four other selected artists will receive $50,000 (US) each to produce a body of work that will be exhibited at the museum in November 2025. The museum will also acquire more than $100,000 (US) worth of their artworks. The Eiteljorg Fellowship has existed since 1999 to help promote contemporary Indigenous art and artists. The four other artists selected for the 2025 fellowship are Jean LaMarr, John Feodorov, Maria Hupfield and Cannupa Hanska Luger.
Ilagiit/Relatives Group Exhibition Opens at FOFA Gallery at Concordia University
A group exhibition featuring contemporary Inuit artists from across Inuit Nunaat will open on September 30 at Concordia University’s FOFA Gallery in Montreal, QC. Titled Ilagiit/Relatives, the exhibition is curated by Heather Igloliorte, current Canada Excellence Research Chair at the University of Victoria and President of the Inuit Art Foundation’s Board of Directors, and Taqralik Partridge, writer and curator. The exhibition is also presented in collaboration with Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project. The show features a wide range of works that examine different ways of being in relation to each other and community, land and different generations. Seventeen artists and collectives, spanning media and regions across Inuit Nunaat, from Alaska to Kallaalit Nunaat (Greenland), will have work on view. The show runs until December 6, 2024.