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.
For a second consecutive year the IAQ has been shortlisted for a “Best Magazine” award in an Arts and Literature category, the first being for the inaugural Canadian Magazine Awards in 2017. This year, the IAQ is nominated for Best Magazine: Art and Literature alongside Brick, a literary journal with a focus on literary non-fiction, and The Site Magazine, a journal of contemporary architecture, landscape, urbanism, and design in Canada.
The Fall 2017 issue, “Anniversary: Celebrating 30 Years”, is shortlisted for Best Editorial Package which recognizes, "an outstanding collection of articles and content on a related theme in a single issue"and marks the 30th anniversary of the magazine as well as that of its publisher, the Inuit Art Foundation. Other nominees in this category include Canadian Art, Cottage Life and FASHION Magazine.
Newly redesigned, by Emily Tu and Edmond Ng of Tung studio, the Anniversary issue of the IAQ has also been recognized in the category of Art Direction Grand Prix. Other nominees in this category includeDînette Magazine, esse arts + opinions and SAD Mag. It is the first time the magazine has been recognized for overall editorial and art direction excellence.
The cover story of the anniversary issue traces a cache of unknown, repatriated drawings by famed graphic artist Jessie Oonark, OC, RCA, by critic and curator Sarah Milroy. Other features includes a thoughtful essay by Inuvialuk artist Abraham Anghik Ruben, OC, on the needs of Inuit artists today and a profile on late Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, artist Tim Pitsiulak by curator and friend Andrew Hunter among other articles. This issue also also features the sprawling, multi-authored portfolio “30 Artists to Know” which has been recognized in the One of a Kind Storytelling category. Conceived to highlight decades of excellence in Inuit art, this portfolio is intergenerational, geographically diverse and features a broad range of artists, both contemporary and historical, working in numerous media. To create this unique editorial, the IAQ asked 15 leading figures in the field to nominate an early-career artist to watch. In turn, those artists selected a senior talent who has inspired them. The resulting feature brings together 30 contributing writers, roughly 60% of whom are Inuit. They are: Saimaiyu Akesuk, Fanny Algaalaga Avatituq, Tony Anguhalluq, Julia Manoyok Ekpakohak, Leevan Etok, Patricia Feheley, David Ford, Kelly Fraser, Ellen Hamilton, Sandra Hollett, Marie Horstead, Heather Igloliorte, Victoria Kakuktinniq, Jimmy Kalinek, Robert Kardosh, Vinnie Karetak, Zacharias Kunuk, Christine Lalonde, Paul Machnik, Michael Massie, Richard Murdoch, Christa Ouimet, Barry Pottle, RJ Ramrattan, Nicotye Samayualie, Daniel Shimout, Inez Shiwak, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Norman Vorano and John Westren.
"Everyone at the Inuit Art Foundation is deeply honoured to be nominated alongside such strong submissions across multiple categories," explains Executive Director and Publisher Alysa Procida. "We are particularly excited that we have garnered this recognition in our 30th anniversary year, which reflects the strong legacy and bright future for the publication and Inuit artists broadly."
The Inuit Art Quarterly would like to extend our sincere thanks and congratulations to all the writers and artists who contributed to our 2017 editorial calendar, for sharing their enthusiasm and creativity in our pages.
Award winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 1, 2018. The full list of nominees can be found here.