35th Sámi Grand Prix Set for April 2025
The 2025 Sámi Grand Prix, an annual competition that recognizes Sámi singers and vocal artists, has officially closed its call for submissions for this year. Known as Sápmi’s biggest music event, the competition presents new songs and joiks (the traditional Sámi style of song) each year. This year, the Grand Prix received 45 submissions from artists—15 for the joik contest and 30 for the song contest. Nils Ove Kuorak won the 2024 competition with the joik “Njeallječalmmát.” The event is held annually around Easter, which coincides with Sámi traditions that occur at the same time. The Grand Prix will take place on April 12, 2025, in Báktehárji, Guovdageaidnu, Norway.
Emily Laurent Henderson’s Forthcoming Catalogue Among Most Anticipated Spring Releases
Exhibition catalogue Dreaming Forward: Worlds on Paper from Kinngait by Emily Laurent Henderson, Associate Curator, Indigenous Art and Culture at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, ON, is listed as one of Publishers Weekly’s most anticipated art books. Set to publish on April 15, 2025, Henderson’s catalogue will feature over 150 never-before-seen drawings by Kinngait artists from the recently digitized Cape Dorset archive, housed at the McMichael. The catalogue will accompany the exhibition of the same name curated by Henderson, which opens at the McMichael on March 8, 2025.
Winners of $80,000+ Inuktuuqta! Inuktut Writing Prize Announced
Donna Adams from Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU, was announced as this year’s grand prize winner of the Inuktuuqta! Inuktut Writing Prize at a gala in Iqaluit, NU, earlier this month. Sponsored by Nunavut Tunngavik Foundation, Inuktuuqta! is an annual award that recognizes emerging Inuktut writers. This marks its third year of operations. Five Inuit writers were chosen as finalists in late November, including Adams, Meghan Alivaktuk, Kevin Kablutsiak, Savanna Kiliktee and Megan Ungalaq. Adams won the $80,000 grand prize for her original story about Kattagaq, a boy who goes on a journey to embrace what it means to be Inuk. Second place was awarded to writer Megan Ungalak, based in Iglulik, NU, for her short story that follows Inuit navigating a post-apocalyptic world; she received a prize of $10,000. Third, fourth and fifth-place authors also received cash prizes.
Kenojuak Ashevak’s Rare Blue Enchanted Owl Sells for Record Price at Auction
On December 2, a rare proof of Kenojuak Ashevak’s, CC, ONu, RCA (1927–2013) iconic print Enchanted Owl (1960) sold for a record-breaking $366,000 at First Arts in Toronto, ON. This marks the highest price a work by Ashevak has sold for, breaking its previous high of $289,250 for the better-known red-and-black version of the print, sold at Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Toronto in November 2024. The rare blue print was produced during a trial proofing run when final colours of the print were being determined. The final print run of 50 copies includes 25 prints in red and black and 25 in green and black. Copies of Ashevak’s Enchanted Owl have sold for progressively higher prices in the secondary art market for years, bolstering the Inuit art market while also prompting conversations about artist resale rights in Canada.
Inuktitut Magazine Changes its Name to Recognize all Dialects of Inuit Nunangat
The longest-running Indigenous language periodical in Canada has officially changed its name from Inuktitut magazine to Inuktut magazine. The name change reflects how the term “Inuktut” is currently used to represent all dialects of the language spoken across Inuit Nunangat, and it was unanimously endorsed by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) delegates at their annual general meeting in September 2024. Inuktut magazine was first published in 1959 and led by Inuit editors Mary Panigusiq Cousins, Elijah Menarik, along with Robert (Bobby) Williamson, and it has been published by ITK since 1989. The name change will officially be implemented in 2025, also the year of the magazine’s 65th anniversary.