Inuit Art Centre
Winnipeg, MB
Fall 2020
After initially breaking ground on May 25th, 2018, the Inuit Art Centre is set to open in Winnipeg in the Fall of 2020. Constructed to house the bulk of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s and the Government of Nunavut’s collection of 13,000 Inuit carvings, textiles prints and beyond that represent the largest collection of its kind in the world, the new centre will make it possible to display works that were previously relegated to storage. A digitization project is also underway to make the entirety of the collection available online.
The building itself, designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture is intended to reflect the landscape, light and people of the north and provide and accessible exhibition and educational space. In addition to the galleries, the IAC will also house classrooms and creative space, in which students and visitors will be able to learn from guest educators, curators, artists and elders as well as study hands-on skills such as carving.
— Emily Henderson, Contributing Editor
Suohpanterror Move On (2014) Courtesy the artists
Sydney Biennial
Sydney, Australia
March - June 2020
Opening this spring, the 22nd Sydney Biennale, Nirin, brings together works by close to a hundred artists, creatives and collectives. Curated by Brook Andrews, the exhibition draws its name from the Wiradjuri word for edge and promises an all-star line-up of internationally acclaimed artists with a heavy emphasis on Indigenous artists from around the globe.
This year will feature a number of artists with ties to the circumpolar region including Taqralik Partridge, Nicholas Galanin, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, collective Suohpanterror, Aslaug Magdalena Juliussen, Sissel M. Bergh and Anders Sunna. Working across film, textile, performance, photography and sculpture these artists garnered much attention in 2019–from participation in major group and solo exhibitions, award-winning projects and more and I’m eagerly awaiting their projects for Sydney.
Other highlights are sure to include: Lisa Reihana, perhaps best known for her monumental work In Pursuit of Venus [infected] (2015-2017) currently on view at the Art Gallery of Ontario until the end of March; Joël Andrianomearisoa, the featured artist in Madagascar’s first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale this past year; and Golden Lion-winning filmmaker Arthur Jafa whose latest film, The White Album (2018) garnered deserving accolades for its exploration of race, power and whiteness.
— Britt Gallpen, Editorial Director
Cast during the shooting of Slash/Back Courtesy Slash/Back film
Slash/Back
Nyla Innuksuk
Summer 2020
Nyla Innuksuk’s debut feature is scheduled to drop in 2020. The film, Slash/Back, is set in Pangnirtung and was filmed in the community of around 1,500 over the summer in 2019. It stars an ensemble of teenage women, who are all acting professionally for the first time, and Slash/Back is the first feature-length movie filmed in Pangnirtung. Its gets better though. The main conflict in the film is an alien invasion and the young women represent the town’s greatest defense.
Innuksuk has made a name for herself as an innovator. She founded her own VR production company, MixTape VR, and co-developed the character Snowguard, an Inuk superhero, for Marvel Comics in 2018. Innuksuk brings a unique perspective to the film landscape and I’m excited for her take on sci-fi/horror.
The film will likely open during the summer festival season, with a wider release to follow. What will an alien invasion look like in 24 hours of sunlight? I’m not sure, but I can’t wait to find out.
— John Geoghegan, Senior Editor
Victoria's Arctic Fashion at the 2019 Indigenous Fashion WeekPhoto Mariana B. Lane
Indigenous Fashion Week 2020
May 28–May 31, 2020
Toronto, ON
Indigenous Fashion Week 2020 is happening from May 28-31 and featuring 23 incredible Indigenous designers. The curatorial theme for 2020 is something that runs deep, literally and figuratively for Indigenous people, the interconnectedness through and to water. The show will feature four distinct programs: TU GH’EH NAH (Water is Life), TU CHO (Big Water), TU GH’EG TL’E’TH (Streams) and TU GH’EL T’ILHN (Water Carriers).
With of the designers hailing from the circumpolar world, Inuit craftsmanship and vision will be featured prominently at this year’s Fashion Week. Designers like Martha Kyak, Hinaani Design, Hildebjørg Inuk Egilsdottir, Victoria’s Arctic Fashion and Nuuk Couture will showcase a delightful mix of modern and traditional Inuit clothing, accessories and jewelry.
Water has the power of life and is revered across the Indigenous world for its strength and importance. The reflection of this sacred substance is sure to result in a gorgeous collection of couture in the 2020 Indigenous Fashion Week. A visit to this runway will have you asking “who made your parka?” all day long.
— Napatsi Folger, Contributing Editor
Tarralik Duffy 3/4 mile marker (2019) Courtesy the Artist
Qautamaat | Every day / everyday
January 22–April 26, 2020
Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph ON
Curator Taqralik Partridge has drawn together images circulated on social networks for Qautamaat, using the photography of Inuit community members and artist living in Inuit Nunangat and in urban centres further South. Incorporating both photographs in the context of artistic practise and snapshots taken as witness to the everyday, the pieces offer a visual map and memory of the lived environment, a sort of collective geography that spans a large part of the circumpolar world and encompasses the ties of Inuit communities outside the North. Qautamaat will feature Elisapie Attagootak, Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko, Tarralik Duffy, Betsy Etidloie, Mary Gordon, Siasi Iqaluk, Eenah Lidstone, Barry Pottle, Ida Saunders, Nina Segalowitz, Jarvis Usuitauyok and Laakkuluk Williamson-Bathory. Although they all came from social media originally, there's nothing fleeting about these images.
— Jessica MacDonald, Online Editor