FEATURE INTERVIEW: Inuk aritst Mark Igloliorte on how skateboarding inspires his work

Mark Igloliorte is an Inuk artist from Nunatsiavut, the Inuit self-governing region in the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

He grew up in the Labrador town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Igloliorte draws heavily from both Labrador Inuit culture and urban culture in his work.

Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture is a Canadian exhibition featuring everything from painting and drawings to installations by indigenous artists.

Currently showing in Montreal, Canada’s Musée d’art contemporain, Igloliorte’s works in the exhibition meld skateboarding culture with Inuit symbols and traditional games like the blanket toss.

On the opening day of Beat Nation in Montreal, Mark Igloliorte sat down with Eye on the Arctic to discuss his work and why urban culture and Inuit traditions may not be as far removed from each other as people think.

Related Links:

Mark Igloliorte’s website

Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is an award-winning journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project. Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.

Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the murder of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received the silver medal for “Best Investigative Article or Series” at the 2019 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The project also received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.

Her report “The Arctic Railway: Building a future or destroying a culture?” on the impact a multi-billion euro infrastructure project would have on Indigenous communities in Arctic Europe was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Association of Journalists award in the online investigative category.

Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.

Her work on climate change in the Arctic has also been featured on the TV science program Découverte, as well as Le Téléjournal, the French-Language CBC’s flagship news cast.

Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."

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