Elisapie and Deantha Edmunds are Nominated for Multiple 2025 Juno Awards
This year two Inuit musicians are nominated for two Juno Awards each—singer-songwriter Elisapie and classical soprano Deantha Edmunds, CM. Elisapie is nominated in the categories of Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Album of the Year for Inuktitut (2023); she won a Juno in 2024 for the same album in a different category. Inuktitut’s release date of September 15, 2023, allows the album to be eligible for two consecutive years of awards. Edmunds, known as Canada’s first Inuk opera singer and a recent inductee into the Order of Canada, is nominated in the Classical Composition of the Year category for her original song “Angmalukisaa” (2024), as well as the Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble category for the album Alikeness (2024). Winners will be announced at the awards event on March 30 in Vancouver, BC.
asinnajaq is a 2024 New Generation Photography Award Winner
Artist and curator asinnajaq is one of two recipients of the 2024 New Generation Photography Award (NGPA) at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ottawa, ON, alongside artist Mallory Lowe Mpoka. Both artists received $10,000 and have their work displayed in an exhibition at the NGC until June 1. Recipients of the NGPA are annually recognized for their unique contributions to photography, and this year the winners’ work address the role of images in contemporary post-colonial cultures. The exhibition was curated by Jocelyn Piirainen, Associate Curator, Indigenous Ways and Decolonization and Andrea Kunard, Senior Curator, Photographs.
April Allen Wins a 2025 Atlantic Canada Craft Award for Excellence
On February 8, fashion designer April Allen received the Atlantic Canada Craft Award for Excellence as an Industry Leader/Supporter. “This recognition is deeply meaningful, and I want to sincerely thank the Craft Alliance Atlantic and Bernard Burton for this incredible honour,” Allen said in a post on Instagram. Allen’s win recognizes her leadership and exceptional contributions to the craft industry in Atlantic Canada over the past five years. From Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, NL, and currently living in Labrador City, NL, Allen is the founder and owner of the label Stitched by April, known for its jewellery and garments. Her work has been featured on runways in Paris, New York, Milan and Toronto, ON.
New Film by Zacharias Kunuk Premieres at Berlin International Film Festival
The film Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) (2025) had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) on February 16. Directed and co-written by Zacharias Kunuk, OC, ON, who is also the executive producer, the film is an Inuktitut historical drama set in 1000 BCE in Iglulik, NU, and focuses on two young lovers played by Theresia Kappianaq and Haiden Angutimarik. Kunuk is best known for his film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) from 2001—the first Canadian feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut—and he is the co-founder of Isuma Productions, the first independent Inuit-led film production company in Canada.
Alberta Rose W. Solo-Curates First Exhibition in Edmonton
Multidisciplinary artist Alberta Rose W.’s first solo-curated exhibition Through Their Lens: Indigenous Perspectives in Focus opened earlier this month at Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre in Edmonton, AB. The show features works by three Indigenous artists: Inuk photographer Cora Kavyaktok, Cree filmmaker Seth Arcand and Métis-Cree photographer Nahanni McKay. Together, they examine themes of identity and contemporary life through photographic works that depict relationships with land, culture, heritage and modernity. The show is on view until April 19.
Construction Restarts on New Centre for Arts and Culture in Tuktuuyaqtuuq
Earlier in the month, gravel was laid for the Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture in Tuktuuyaqtuuq, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT—the only Canadian Western Arctic centre for excellence in visual and performing arts. The project was halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but has since started up again. The centre will preserve Saliqmiut and Inuvialuit culture by hosting workshops, maintaining a museum space and archives and offering collections storage. The building will also include a hotel, office space and a stage for performances with capacity for 200 people. The target opening date is April 2026.