Dr. Heather Igloliorte Announced as Curator of the 2025 Bonavista Biennale

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, will curate the next Bonavista Biennale, which will be held from August 16 to September 14, 2025. She will work alongside Rose Bouthillier, the Biennale’s Artistic Director, to develop a curatorial vision for the next iteration of the contemporary art event. The Bonavista Biennale is a rural-based art event that happens every two years on the Bonavista Peninsula, NL. It has featured a number of Inuit artists in previous years, including Glenn Gear (Corner Brook, NL), based in Montreal, QC; Jessica Winters, based in Makkovik, Nunatsiavut, NL; and Shirley Moorhouse, based in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL. Igloliorte is an Inuk Newfoundlander who has been a curator since 2005 in addition to holding various academic positions. 

Michael Massie Awarded an Honorary Degree from OCAD University 

Michael Massie, CM, RCA, is among five individuals who will be awarded honorary degrees from OCAD University this June for their contributions to the arts, architecture and philanthropy. Based in Kippens, NL, Massie has made artwork that represents his mixed Inuit, Métis and Scottish heritage since the early 1990s. Best known for his wittily titled silver teapot sculptures—he has made over 100 to date—Massie is also an accomplished stone sculptor, incorporating a mix of wood, bone, antler, metals and found objects into his work. Massie was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017 and to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2011. He will receive the honour on June 14 at OCAD U’s spring convocation. 

Inuit Artists Included in BACA Biennial 

The seventh Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA) has kicked off in Quebec and features work by Inuit, First Nations and Métis artists. The Inuit artists showing work are: Jason Sikoak (Nunatsiavut), based in Montreal, QC; Tarralik Duffy (Nunavut), based in Saskatoon, SK; Uumati Kisoun-Inuarak (Inuvialuit Settlement Region), based in Victoria, BC; Cora Kavyaktok (Nunavut), based in Vermillion, AB; and Jesse Tungilik, based in Iqaluit, NU. This year, the multi-venue exhibition, Creation Stories, explores the theme through works selected by four Indigenous curators: Lori Beavis, Emma Hassencahl-Perley, Jake Kimble and Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé. BACA is a Montreal-based organization that launched in 2012 and features work by both emerging and established Indigenous artists at various venues across Quebec from March to September. 

Radical Stitch Opens at the National Gallery of Canada and Features More Inuit Artists

The nationally touring exhibition Radical Stitch is now open at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ottawa, ON. Celebrating Indigenous beading, the show features a range of works—from wearable art to installation and video—representing the connections in beading from past and present. A number Inuit artists have been added to the NGC’s iteration of Radical Stitch in addition to Taqralik Partridge, whose work has been travelling with the exhibition. The newly added artists include Maata Kyak (Nunavut), based in Ottawa, ON; Niap (Nunavik), based in Montreal, QC; and Eva Talooki Aliktiluk (1927–1995) from Arviat, NU. Radical Stitch was originally curated in 2022 at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, SK, by Sherry Farrell Racette, Michelle LaVallee and Cathy Mattes, and the NGC marks the exhibition’s fourth stop on its national tour. Radical Stitch is on view until September 30. 

Inuit-Directed Film Wins Award at Latino and Native American Film Festival

Reclaim (2023), a film co-directed by Inuk artist and storyteller Ashley Qilavaq-Savard and Inuk filmmaker Marc Fussing Rosbach, has won the Young Filmmaker Award at the 2024 Latino and Native American Film Festival (LANAFF). The film focuses on protagonist Saila, who faces a horrendous reality after her small Inuit community in the high Arctic is snowed in—disconnected from the rest of Canada and from essential resources. Qilavaq-Savard, from Iqaluit, NU, is known for her spoken-word poetry, writing and jewellery, and Fussing Rosbach, from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), is Founder and CEO of the Kalaallit Nunaat–based production company Furos Image. LANAFF is based at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, and promotes Latino and Native American cultures through its annual film festival.