Iqaluit museum curator worries Winnipeg's Inuit art gallery too far from home

A new branch of the Winnipeg Art Gallery dedicated to Inuit art is set to open to the public this weekend, but a museum curator in Iqaluitworriesthe Winnipeg location puts the artout of reach for many Inuit.

"I think that having these objects outside of Nunavut for this long is heartbreaking,"saidJessica Kotierk, curator for theNunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, the only museum in Nunavut.

Called Qaumajuq, the new gallery based in Winnipeg will house the largest collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world, with about 14,000 art pieces from WAG on display, and additional 7,400 that areon long-term loan from the Government of Nunavut.

The name of the opening exhibit, INUA, translates to "life force" or "spirit" in numerous dialects across the Arctic, according to the gallery's website. It's also an acronym that translates to Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut or "Inuit Moving Forward Together."

Rather than four square sides in a room, the walls are set in an undulating shape. Its floor space isthe size of two hockey rinks.

Curators across Inuit Nunangat worked on INUA, whichit is set to run for the rest of 2021 and will present works from 91 artists.

There are four co-curators in total: Kablusiak, who is Inuvialuit from the Western Arctic; Krista Ulujuk Zawadski from Nunavut; Asinnajaq from Nunavik in the north of Quebec; and Igloliorte, a Concordia University professor who hails from Nunatsiavut.

But Kotierk says the priority audience for Nunavut Inuit art should be Inuit in Nunavut, and having the art displayed in Winnipeg creates a barrier for that audience.

"I think that the Winnipeg Art Gallery's project really shows that there's interest and support," she said. "There's no reason that can't be here [and]there's no reason that Inuitcan't be involved or in control."

Kotierk, who hasexperience working in museumsand with Inuit art nationally and internationally, says she appreciates the appetite Winnipeg has for Inuit art and says any opportunity for Inuit art to be recognizedis positive,but she questions who should be doing that work.

"I changed my perspective as to who should be putting out messages and who should be in control of Inuit representation. I'm not comfortable saying that the Winnipeg Art Gallery has [that] role right now," Kotierksaid.

"I think it's such a big issue that I don't hear that many people talking about," she said.

"I hope that if there are people who also want to see something great happeninghere instead, that [this] could be the next step."

Inuit curators

Heather Igloliorte,one of the curators for INUA, says she agrees that it's time for Nunavut to have its own art gallery.

"I think that really, Nunavut deserves a placefor the all of these works to return to," she said."Hopefully the press and the good spirits and the the sort of attention that [the gallery] is getting right now ...will lead to the creation of a new institution for Nunavut."

Igloliorte says she has been part of the development of the Inuit branch of the Winnipeg Art Gallery since 2012, when she was part of a consultation group. Years later, the director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery invited herto curate the opening exhibition.

New Inuit Art Centre exhibit opens in Winnipeg

4 years ago

Duration 10:57

The Winnipeg Art Gallery's new space in the Inuit Art Centre, called Qaumajuq, holds its opening ceremony Thursday night. The world largest collection of Inuit art features some 14,000 pieces from more than 90 artists.

She said yes, but that she also wanted to work with other Inuit curators on it.

"We really hope that by by installing works this way, including works from ... our relatives, that when Inuit enter the exhibition, they will understand that this is an exhibition for them," she said, adding she hopes the art will feel familiar.

"We hope that people really enjoy the exhibition because we put a lot of thought into how we would reflect and respond to Inuit artists living all across both the North and South."

Iqaluit-basedexhibitions

HarryFlaherty, the president of QikiqtaalukCorporation, saysNunavut is overdue for a museum and thatmany Inuit haven't seen any of the art at the Winnipeg gallery.

He says he'd like to seetravelling exhibitions from Qaumajuq in the Aqsarniit Hotel in Iqaluit.

"One of the reasons why we have this 500 to 600 per capacity facility here, is to display a lot of these potential events," he said.

Winnipeg Art Gallery's director and CEO, Stephen Borys, said during a virtual tour, that their goal is to increase the profile of Inuit art, not just across Canada, but around the world.

"I'd like to think that Qaumajuq is not the hub. We may be important in the South, but we want tosupport the North, we want to support their agendasin terms of cultural and heritage centres,"Borys said. "We feel that we could play a useful role."

Borys says there's a plan that with each exhibition they do depending on size and scale to travel to Inuit communities across Inuit Nunangat.