2022 Arctic Arts Summit to be hosted in Canada’s Yukon territory
Canada’s northwestern Yukon territory will host the 2022 Arctic Arts Summit, the territorial government announced this week.
It will be the first time a Canadian location puts on the event.
“The Yukon is immensely proud to co-host this international symposium of circumpolar arts and culture for the first time in Canada,” Ranj Pillai, Yukon’s tourism minister, said in a news release.
More event details will be announced in the fall, but Yukon said the 2022 event will have four main focuses:
- improving understanding, engagement and support for the arts community in the North
- increasing artistic collaboration in the circumpolar Arctic
- focusing on Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and cultural integrity, specifically as it relates to peoples of the Arctic
- strengthening the relationships between the Canada Council, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and other Northern regions of Canada.
“We look forward to working together with the Canada Council for the Arts as well as our many community partners throughout the North to create a truly innovative event that will highlight and advance the vision, voices and shared experiences of this unique region,” Pillai said.
Third such event
The first Arctic Arts Summit was held in in Harstad, Norway in 2017. The goal of the event is to showcase Arctic art and artists and to create links between the northern arts communities of the eight circumpolar countries.
The second event was held in 2019 in Rovaniemi, Finland. The June 2021 event was cancelled because of the pandemic, but the 2022 edition is now on the calendar for June 27-29.
Yukon will jointly administer and host the event with the Canada Council for the Arts, Canada’s arts funding body.
“The Canada Council is deeply committed to strengthening existing synergies and expanding connections with organizations and leaders in the North,” Simon Brault, director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, said.
“The priorities we identify and the actions we take today to express and showcase the realities of the art and culture of the peoples of the circumpolar North, and in particular with Indigenous communities, are necessary building blocks to a more inclusive and sustainable future.”
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Iqaluit museum curator worries Inuit art gallery in southern Canada too far from home, CBC News
Finland: How not to promote Arctic tourism: Why Finland’s Sami say marketing their region needs to change, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Norwegian slow TV to feature Svalbard round the clock for nine days, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Russia adds ancient sites along Norway’s border to cultural heritage list, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Sweden, Norway team up to preserve ancient rock carvings, Radio Sweden
United States: American cartoonist says his new book on Canadian Indigenous history helped decolonize part of himself, CBC News
