Just because museums are closed doesn’t mean exhibitions stop. Following last week’s 5 Virtual Inuit Art Exhibitions to Visit, we’ve compiled more places to find Inuit art online. From a full walkthrough of the 2020 Biennale of Sydney to the breadth of collections on view in the archives of museums like the Smithsonian Arctic Institute and the many videos and exhibition ephemera available from notable projects like Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel (2019-2020) and raise a flag (2017), you’ll find enough Inuit art here to keep you entertained for hours.
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and Jamie Griffiths Silaup Putunga Iluani (Inside the Hole in the Universe) (2018) COURTESY OF LAAKKULUK WILLIAMSON BATHORY AND JAMIE GRIFFITHS
Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel National Gallery of Canada
The second exhibition in the NGC’s series of presentations of contemporary Indigenous art, Àbadakone comprises more than 70 artists from almost 40 Indigenous Nations, including works by notable Inuk artists Shuvinai Ashoona, Pierre Aupilardjuk, Maureen Gruben, Ningiukulu Teevee, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and Christine Tootoo. Although the whole show is not available online, there is significant video footage, including video interviews with the artists through the NGC’s Youtube page, and a CBC Gem In the Making documentary on Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory as she and collaborators Tootoo, Jamie Griffiths and Cris Derksen work on their performance art band Ikumagialiit [Those that need fire]. Curators Greg A. Hill and Rachelle Dickinson wrote a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibition for the IAQ, which is available here.
Ed Pien with Tanya Tagaq Source (installation image) (2012) Mylar, paper, rope, sound and video Courtesy Biennale of Sydney
Biennale of Sydney Various Locations
One of the leading art festivals in the world, the Biennale of Sydney represents over a thousand contemporary artists from across the world. This year, the Biennale is framed by aabaakwad NIRIN, a multi-day program of events focused on Indigenous arts and cultures. Indigenous artists around the globe contributed, including Nicholas Galanin, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, collective Suohpanterror, Aslaug Magdalena Juliussen, Sissel M. Bergh, Anders Sunna and Nunivimmiuk artist Taqralik Partridge, who created a series of six beaded apirsait (Helper Spirit) pieces for the exhibition, as well as a poem presented in English, Inuktitut, and Darug—an Indigenous language local to the Sydney region. The entire exhibition is available through Google Arts & Culture.
Installation view of raise a flag: works from the Indigenous Art Collection (2000-2015) at Onsite Gallery OCAD University, Toronto, 2017
raise a flag Onsite Gallery, OCAD
Curated by IAF board member Ryan Rice, this exhibition won an OAAG award in 2018, owing to its innovation and the attention paid to bringing public awareness to the lesser-known, federally managed national heritage collection (that of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Development) from which its works were loaned. The exhibition focused on additions to the collection between 2000 and 2015 that chronicle recent, significant national narratives reflecting upon heritage, diversity and collective memory. You can read Rice’s explanation of the curatorial genesis of the exhibition, or view a complete video walkthrough with an educational guide here.
Unknown Iñupiaq Artist Untitled (high kick ball) (n.d.) 19 cm diameter Courtesy Smithsonian Arctic Studies Centre Learning Lab
Learning Lab Smithsonian Arctic Studies Centre in Alaska
This online resource draws materials from multiple exhibits, books and workshops put out by the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Centre, including Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska, moosehide tanning, and lessons in Iñupiaq. A set of lessons, videos, community collections and literature on Indigenous communities in Alaska is available through the Learning Lab itself, while a series of videos focusing on cedar twining, gut sewing and other traditional products is hosted on their Youtube channel.
Jamasie Teevee The Meeting (1965) Engraving 33 x 50.5 cm Copyright Dorset Fine Arts
Collection of the Museum of Anthropology University of British Columbia
The collection of the Museum of Anthropology includes over 2000 objects from Inuit communities and thousands more from other circumpolar Indigenous cultures. Search for artists you’re interested in, browse by continent and Indigenous Nation, even view objects on a creation timeline. You’ll find works by artists like Pudlo Pudlat, Kenojuak Ashevak, Janet Kigusiuq, Kawtysie Kakee and many more!
Ningeokuluk Teevee Uunnijut (Relaxing After a Meal) (2018) Stonecut 39 x 49.3 cm Printer Qiatsuk Niviaqsi Copyright Dorset Fine Arts
Cape Dorset Print Collection Dorset Fine Arts
Comprising a complete digital collection of print catalogues from 2001 onwards, the Dorset Fine Arts website also shows off the 2019 collection, including works by Quvianaqtuk Pudlat, Nuna Parr, Pitaloosie Saila, Padloo Samayualie and Saimaiyu Akesuk. With almost twenty years of collections on view, you will see the breadth of creativity and depth of technical knowledge possessed by the printmakers and graphic artists of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU.
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