Six Inuit Artists to Participate in the 2025 Bonavista Biennale

Earlier this month the theme for this summer’s Bonavista Biennale, String Games, was announced. String Games brings the works of 22 artists and collectives from Canada and abroad to sites along the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland. Their works are connected by a shared exploration of storytelling, craft and collaboration that bridges tradition, places and generations. This fifth edition of the Biennale is curated by Dr. Heather Igloliorte, curator and current Canada Excellence Research Chair at the University of Victoria and President of the Inuit Art Foundation’s Board of Directors, in collaboration with Rose Bouthillier, the Biennale’s Artistic Director. A strong contingent of Inuit artists—including Michael Massie, CM, RCA, Nellie Winters, Sarah Baikie, Andrea Flowers (1934–2019), Taqralik Partridge and Maureen Gruben—ground the exhibition. Artists from other island, ocean or circumpolar locations—including Japan, Sápmi, Kalaallit Nunaat and Hawai’i—have also been invited to participate in the event. The Bonavista Biennale runs from August 16 to September 14, 2025.


Exhibitions Curated by Emily Laurent Henderson Open at the McMichael

A major exhibition of Inuit art opened this past month at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, ON. Curated by Emily Laurent Henderson, Associate Curator, Indigenous Arts and Culture at McMichael, Worlds on Paper: Drawings from Kinngait explores the many facets of the human experience—from domestic life to the changing landscape and introduction of newcomers—as depicted in the Kinngait drawing archive from 1959 to 1990. The concurrent exhibition Dreaming Forward: Contemporary Drawings from Kinngait, features work from the 1990s to present day. The exhibitions follow the recent digitization of the 90,000-piece collection belonging to the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative and held on long-term loan by the McMichael. Worlds on Paper and Dreaming Forward are on display until August 24, 2025, with an accompanying catalogue for Worlds on Paper to be published later this year.

Nunatsiavut Artist Unveils Painting to Honour Nunatsiavut Culture and History at the Confederation Building in St. John’s, NL 

At a ceremony honouring the culture and history of the Nunatsiavut Inuit in St. John’s, NL, on March 12, Premier Andrew Furey and Minister Scott Reid unveiled The Journey (2025) by Nunatsiavut artist Bronson Jacque. Johannes Lampe, President of the Nunatsiavut Government, Gerald Asivak, Minister of Language, Culture and Tourism for the Nunatsiavut Government, and Jacque were in attendance. The painting, which depicts a polar bear, caribou, whales, fish and seals all in the colours of the northern lights, reflects the spirit of the Nunatsiavut people and will be permanently on public display in the provincial legislature at a later date. This event is part of a broader initiative by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador to collaborate with Indigenous governments and organizations to select and produce six culturally significant pieces by Indigenous artists to be displayed in the Confederation Building.

Aukkauti Premieres at Puvirnituq Snow Festival 

On March 24 a new original play written and performed in Inuktitut and put on by Aasiiq, Nunavik’s first theatre company, premiered at the Puvirnituq Snow Festival in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, QC. Written by Lisa Koperqualuk, Adamie Kalingo and Daniel Kudluk Gadbois, Aukkauti tells the well-known true story of how an accidental killing in 1899 near Kuuvik, south of Ivujivik, Nunavik, QC, sparked a violent cycle of revenge, widespread panic, mass exile and migration from communities along the Hudson Bay coast. Developed over years of research, interviews, expeditions and linguistic consultations since its inception in a 2011 theatre workshop in Salluit, Nunavik, QC, Aukkauti has evolved into a feature-length play blending Inuit storytelling, classical theatre, puppetry, shadow theatre, video and sound brought to life by a cast of seven Inuit actors.