WAG-Qaumajuq museum in Winnipeg, Canada to co-host 22nd Inuit Studies Conference
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq will co- host Auviqsaqtut: the 22nd Inuit Studies Conference, along with the University of Manitoba this April.
“The University of Winnipeg and Aabijijiwan New Media Lab are thrilled to be co-hosting this conference with WAG-Qaumajuq, because our work centers on the importance of creating space for intergenerational knowledge sharing and collaboration between and amongst Indigenous peoples,” Julie Nagam, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts, Collaboration and Digital Media and co-chair, Indigenous Advisory Circle, Winnipeg Art Gallery, said in a news release.
This year’s theme is auviqsaqtut, Inuktitut for ‘cutting blocks to make an iglu/working together to build an iglu.
Organizers say they’re particularly interested in proposals and creative projects for the conference that echo the idea of auviqsaqtut, including the sharing of intergenerational knowledge, collaboration and building together.
Proposals can include everything from papers to cultural performances or other creative projects, and organizers are calling on everyone from elders and academics, policymakers, artists and students to make submissions.
Film, expedition centennials
The conference coincides with the centennial of Greenlanic-Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen’s 1921-1924 Fifth Thule Expedition which went across Arctic North America, the centennial of the 1922 film Nanook of the North, shot in Arctic Quebec, as well being held during the last weekend of INUA: Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut (Inuit Moving Forward Together), (WAG)-Qaumajuq’s inaugural exhibition.
“The return of this in-person conference provides a significant opportunity for conference attendees to explore Qaumajuq at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, to visit its inaugural exhibition INUA, and to participate in the closing celebrations that weekend,” Heather Igloliorte, Concordia University Research Chair in Circumpolar Indigenous Arts and co-chair, Indigenous Advisory Circle at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, said.
Auviqsaqtut: the 22nd Inuit Studies Conference runs from April 6-9.
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Q&A with 2021 Sobey Art Award Winner Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Eye on the Arctic
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
