Vancouver’s Spirit Wrestler Gallery is closing its doors to the public this October. Founded in 1995, the gallery became well-known for showcasing the work of a host of leading Indigenous artists from across Canada and beyond.

Among Festival Internacional Cervantino’s 2019 line-up are a number of Inuit artists including a Polaris Prize-nominated musician and a Dora award-winning multidisciplinary artist.

Set in Nunavik shortly after World War II, Restless River (2019) is based off Gabrielle Roy’s 1970 novel Windflower.

The Nunavut Arts and Crafts has a new Inuit majority Board of Directors. 11 out of the 12 positions on the recently elected board are now held by Inuit, following their appointments during NACA’s annual general meeting in July.

The 2019 edition of the annual festival, held in the community of Manndalen, Norway, boasted an impressive roster of Inuit creatives from musicians to filmmakers and more.

Emerging artist Aija Komangapik has received first place in the Indigenous Arts & Stories contest, presented annually by Historica Canada, for the digital drawing Drumdancer (2019).

The short list for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize has been announced, and among the 10 nominated albums is Ballad of the Runaway Girl (2018) by Montreal-based, Salluit-raised musician Elisapie (Elisapie Isaac).

In celebration of 60 years of printmaking in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, Dorset Fine Arts has released a special summer collection featuring two new works by Ningiukulu Teevee and Ooloosie Saila as well as a historic, previously unreleased print by Pitaloosie Saila, RCA.

The list of participating artists for the Toronto Biennial of Art this fall has been released, with a number of artists from across the Arctic among the 90 national and international participants named so far for the 72 day event.

Indigenous artists are identified as “’essential’ to Canadian diversity and its distinct image abroad,” including the recent delegation of artists organized by the IAF and Canada Council for the Arts at the Arctic Arts Summit.

Singer-songwriter Elisapie (Elisapie Isaac) is among the 40 musicians long-listed for this year’s Polaris Music Prize, for her third studio album The Ballad of the Runaway Girl (2018).

The Winnipeg Art Gallery announced a significant gift of $2 million to the Inuit Art Centre from The North West Company, which will fund the development of a public plaza adjacent to the Centre.

Kablusiak has been named to the short list for the 2019 Sobey Art Award, the most prestigious art prize in Canada. They are the second Inuk artist and first Inuvialuk artist to be short-listed for the accolade.

A sculpture by Joe Talirunili (1893-1976) has broken the record for the highest price paid for a work by an Inuit artist at public auction. The work was offered on May 29th, 2019, in the inaugural sale by First Arts.

With Isuma’s exhibition at the Canada Pavilion, the National Gallery of Canada Foundation announced the gift of one million dollars by The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation to the Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment to support future representation at the premiere contemporary art event.

The Inuit Art Quarterly, the world’s only magazine dedicated to Inuit and circumpolar Indigenous arts, has received two 2019 National Magazine Award nominations for Issue Grand Prix and Publisher Grand Prix.

In recognition of his significant contributions to the art of cartooning in Canada, the late artist Alootook Ipellie will be inducted into the Giants of the North: Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame in May 2019.

Kablusiak has been named to the 2019 Sobey Award longlist, Canada’s most prestigious award for young artists. They are the first Inuvialuk artist nominated for the prize and are included as part of the Prairies & North catchment.

Renowned Iglulik-based sculptor Bart Hanna Kappianaq unveiled Sedna with Friends (2019) at the Canadian Parliament Complex in Ottawa, ON, coinciding with the 20th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of Nunavut.

Inuit musicians Tanya Tagaq, Kelly Fraser, PIQSIQ, Iva and more have boycotted the Indigenous Music Awards over concerns of cultural appropriation in the work of nominee Cikwes, who incorporates throat singing within her work.

The Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, NU, the Territory’s only museum, announced recently that Jessica Kotierk has been hired as the Manager and Curator.

Ottawa-based artist and curator Jocelyn Piirainen has joined the Winnipeg Art Gallery as the inaugural Assistant Curator of Inuit Art. Piirainen is the first Inuk in Canada to hold a lead curatorial position at a provincial museum.

“Memory Keepers /Gardiens des mémoires” is a collaborative installation by Jesse Tungilik, Jason Sikoak, Megan Kyak-Monteith, Darcie Bernhardt, Tom McLeod, Glenn Gear and Caroline Monnet at the FOFA Gallery courtyard at Concordia.

Accompanying the historic apology from the federal government, we revisit the carvings produced during patient stays in southern sanitariums that provide an invaluable record of this chapter of Canadian history in stone.

Over 750 contemporary sculptures, 120 works on paper and 25 examples of historical material by Inuit artists from across the North were donated to the Canadian Museum of by the estate of Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Perkins Hess.

The Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU graphic artist is the first Inuk recipient of the prestigious $50,000 prize and solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Barry Pottle, Katherine Takpannie and Annie Pootoogook (1961-2016) are among the artists included in the City of Ottawa Art Collection’s recent acquisition who will be featured the exhibition Kaleidoscope at the City Hall Art Gallery.

Following a riveting round of bidding at Waddington’s in Toronto, ON on November 20th, 2018, a red-tailed copy of Kenojuak Ashevak’s famous 1960 print The Enchanted Owl broke previous auctions records set by the artist.

From fantasy and adventure to experimental film, music video and documentaries, we’ve rounded up the best offerings from the Circumpolar North across the five-day festival.

The collection features prints by Saimaiyu Akesuk, Shuvinai Ashoona, Qavavau Manumie, Malaija Pootoogook, Cee Pootoogook, Quvianaqtuk Pudlat, Pauojoungie Saggiak, Pitaloosie Saila, Axangayuk Shaa, Padloo Samayualie, and more!

MBAM deepened its promotion of Inuit art and culture with a recent acquisition of work by Niap (Nancy Saunders) as well as the announcement of a new partnership with the Avataq Cultural Institute.

The $10.2 million-dollar Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop in Kinngait (Cape Dorest), NU opened its doors on September 5, 2018 with a series of celebrations and exhibitions.

The Grizzlies, a film based on the all-Inuit team of the same name, will have its worldwide premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival this fall.

Last week, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs announced that the construction of the new Iqaluit Community Day Care is underway and will prominently feature commissioned works by Nunavut artists.

Iglulik (Igloolik)-based sculptor Bart Hanna Kappianaq has been selected to install a new work in Centre Block, the main building of the Canadian parliament complex on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

For the first time since 2011, the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts in Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU, unveiled a new print collection at a launch event on July 8, 2018 as part of the Nunavut Arts Festival in Iqaluit, NU.

Iqaluit-based artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory is the recipient of the inaugural Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award, for her multi-disciplinary practice which centres on uaajeerneq (Greenlandic mask dance).

The Winnipeg Art Gallery broke ground on its Inuit Art Centre today. Slated for opening in 2020, the 40,000-sqft, four-storey Centre will bring to view the world’s largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art.

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection has named as its new curator Toronto-based critic and curator Sarah Milroy as its new Chief Curator, who seeks to “make Canadian art history relevant and fresh for contemporary audiences.”

The Inuit Art Quarterly, the world’s sole publication dedicated to the arts and artists of Inuit Nunangat, has received four 2018 National Magazine Award nominations.

Iqaluit-born artist Couzyn van Heuvelen has been named to the 2018 Sobey Art Award longlist, Canada’s most prestigious award for young artists. The honour comes on the heels of several career milestones for the artist in recent years.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery has confirmed a team of four Inuit guest curators to open the WAG’s Inuit Art Centre’s inaugural exhibition calendar.

Governor General Julie Payette announced 125 new appointments to the Order of Canada, among them Andrew Qappik “for his contributions to defining the visual culture of Nunavut as a master printmaker and sculptor.”

Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister has confirmed the provincial government will provide $10 million over five years to the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre, a first-of-its-kind cultural landmark in the making.

The 2019 representative artist for the Canada Pavilion at the 58th Venice will be the artist collective Isuma. This is the second time Inuit artists have been presented at the fair, Kananginak Pootoogook being the first in 2017.

Inuit art contributed $87.2 million to the Canadian economy in 2015, according to a trailblazing study released today.

The Igloo Tag Trademark will transfer from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to the IAF, which is uniquely positioned to administer the trademark to further protect, promote and support Inuit art in Canada and internationally.

Massie was made a Member to the Order for his work as a sculptor and silversmith and Hamilton for her promotion of Inuit arts and culture, as well as her support of Arctic performers and artists.

In celebration of National Aboriginal Day, the Canadian Museum of Nature opens the new, permanent Canada Goose Arctic Gallery, featuring Ilurqusivut (Our Ways), a large-scale mural created by Inuk artist Nancy Saunders (Niap).

For the first time ever, a Canadian banknote features a work of Inuit art! Kenojuak Ashevak’s Owl’s Bouquet (2007) will appear on 40 million commemorative $10 banknotes celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation.