Skull of Harp Seals by Eldred Allen, 2018, inkjet print.An exhibition will present the works of 25 artists exploring the theme of land and territory. (Courtesy of La Guilde)

Exhibition to showcase Inuit art from Atlantic Canada

A new exhibition featuring the work of 25 known and emerging Inuit artists from Altlantic Canada is coming to Montreal in October.

Nunatsiavut — Our Beautiful Land will showcase more than forty artworks by established and emerging artists, and will include sculptures, paintings, photography, jewellery and crafts.

Nunatsiavut is an Inuit self-governing region in the northern region of the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Artists from Nunatsiavut have, until very recently, been hidden from the spotlight that shines on Inuit art in Canada,” said Heather Igloliorte associate professor of Indigenous Art History at Montreal’s Concordia University in a news release on Friday. “Left out of the early initiatives that supported the development of today’s thriving contemporary Inuit art ecosystem, Nunatsiavummiut artists living far from urban centres have been hindered from sharing their talents with the world until recently.”

La Guilde, which hosts the event in partnership with Concordia University and Air Borealis, says it will be the first time a Montreal art exhibition exclusively features artists from Nunatsiavut.

Sustenance by Holly Andersen, 2016, inkjet print (Courtesy of La Guilde)

Land and territory

In this exhibition, the artists explore the theme of land and territory, and what “Our beautiful land” means to them.

Woman’s Pair of mitts (detail) by Nellie Winters, 2019, Wool, rabbit, seal skin, duffle, pile lining, moose hide. (Courtesy of La Guilde)

Some used local materials, sometimes combining tradition and modernity, “while others demonstrate interest in themes like tradition, colonization, environment and climate change,” the news release said. 

The exhibition aims to increase the visibility of Inuit artists from the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It follows a previous exhibition curated by Heather Igloliorte entitled SakKijâjuk: Nunatsiavut Art and Crafts in 2015. This previous exhibition was the first to exclusively showcase the artistic production of this community, allowing people to discover its distinct history and ancestral knowledge passed down from generation to generation through the arts, language and tradition, said the news release.

Nunatsiavut — Our Beautiful Land opens on Thursday, October 3, 2019, at La Guilde (1356 Sherbrooke St. West). It will be open until 10 p.m. as part of the first iNuit Blanche, a gallery crawl celebrating Inuit art and culture in downtown Montreal. The one-night event will happen in various venues in the context of the 21st Inuit Studies Conference (ISC) which will take place from October 3 to October 6, 2019.

The exhibition lasts until November 24.

Related stories from around the North:

Canada: Legacy of Inuk artist Itee Pootoogook explored in Canadian exhibition, Eye on the Arctic

Finland: Sámi-themed Finnish short film makes Sundance lineup, Yle News

Greenland: `Enough of this postcolonial sh#%’ – An interview with Greenlandic author Niviaq Korneliussen, Eye on the Arctic

Iceland: Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson lights up London’s Tate Modern, Blog by Mia bennett

Norway: Walt Disney Animation Studios to release Saami-language version of “Frozen 2”, Eye on the Arctic

Russia: Russia’s Arctic culture heritage sites get protection, The Independent Barents Observer

Sweden: Sweden, Norway team up to preserve ancient rock carvings, Radio Sweden

United States: Set of Indigenous Yup’ik masks reunited in Alaska after more than a century, CBC News

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