Arctic Arts Summit
June 27-29, 2022
Whitehorse, YT
Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project was proud to be a Programming Partner of the 2022 Arctic Arts Summit, which took place in Whitehorse, Yukon from June 27-29, 2022. The Arctic Arts Summit aims to strengthen arts and culture in the North by bringing representatives of Arctic countries and the Indigenous Nations of the Circumpolar region together to develop circumpolar cooperation and stimulate collaboration in the arts and creative industries.
The Summit began with a keynote speech in English, Inuktitut, and French by the Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon. Members of the Inuit Futures team were involved with developing and supporting the Summit in many exciting ways, such as organising exhibitions and other cultural programming, leading and attending workshops, contributing to the Summit’s digital platform, and speaking on panels.
Inuit Futures at the Arctic Arts Summit
In collaboration with the Inuit Art Foundation, Inuit Futures created the Knowledge Creators Next (KCN) program taking place during the entirety of the Arctic Arts Summit. This program created space and opportunity for emerging arts professionals to share their insights on the in-person conversations and events they attended, as well as their ideas for possible paths forward towards the next Summit. Through the KCN program, Ilinniqtuit shared their daily reflections—in the form of tweets, photographs, poems, sketches, videos or other short responses—on the Arctic Arts Summit’s digital platform and across social media. View the responses from KCN participants here.
As part of the Knowledge Creators Next program, Ilinniaqtuit attended a daily workshop led byInuvialuk and Gwich’in artist, fashion designer, content creator and cultural educator, Taalrumiq | Christina King (link to her socials pls), focused developing their social media presence as artists, students, young activists, and emerging professionals. In addition to tips about maintaining consistency across platforms, branding, and encouraging audience engagement, Taalrumiq spoke about the importance of being truthful and to not shy away from self-promotion. Ilinniaqtuit also attended a workshop on interview techniques led by Inuit Futures alum Napatsi Folger, now Associate Editor of Inuit Art Quarterly and Outreach Coordinator and Inuit Art Foundation Liaison with Inuit Futures.
A number of Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuit spoke on panels during the Summit: “Extending our Practices: Leveraging Technologies to Share our Stories” panellist Jennifer Qupanuaq May; “Queer in the North: Art, Community, and Collaboration” panellist Aghalingiak; “Naming and Acknowledging: Ethical Inspiration vs. Cultural Appropriation” panellist Nak Alaraiq; “Curatorial Practices around the Circumpolar World” panellist Krista Ulujuk Zawadski; and the closing panel “Emerging Perspectives: Paths Forward in the Arctic Arts Summit” panellists Bronson Jacque, Jonas Henderson, and Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette, moderated by Napatsi Folger (link).
Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuk Shania Noksana worked as a Program and Administrative Assistant with our partners at the Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism Association, providing support to key team members organising the 2022 Adäka Cultural Festival, which opened in Whitehorse immediately following the AAS. A partner of the Summit, Adäka showcased emerging and established artists from each of the 14 Yukon First Nations and beyond, while providing important training and mentorship opportunities for emerging artists.
Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuk Malayah Enooyah Maloney worked directly with Inuit Futures Mentor Reneltta Arluk in her position as curator of Nuihaȓuq, the Performance Arts component of the Summit. Nuihaȓuq was a full evening of performances that spanned theatre, dance, music, puppetry and performance arts in both contemporary and traditional practices along the Yukon River in Whitehorse.
Inuit Futures Programming at the Arctic Arts Summit
TETHER
In collaboration with our partners at the Yukon Arts Center, TETHER is an exhibition of more than fifty artworks by Northern Indigenous artists whose works display the complex and inseparable bonds across diverse lands, waters, nations and peoples. The four-person curatorial team includes two Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuit, Leanne Inuarak-Dall and Darcie “Ouiyaghasiak” Bernhardt (Inuit Futures alumni), and two local First Nations curator-artists, Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé and Heather Steinhagen. The co-curators worked under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Inuit Futures Project Director and Chair of Programming and Coordinating Producer for the Arctic Arts Summit.
Land of None | Land of Us
Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership an organized exhibition of circumpolar photography during the Summit. Land of None | Land of Us is curated by four emerging curators from the circumpolar North – Alice Marie Jektevik, Jennifer Bowen, Jessica Bonnie Winters, and Melissa Shaginoff (Ahtna & Paiute) – guided by the mentorship of Pat Kane, co-founder and President of the Far North Photo Festival. Land of None | Land of Us brought together four sets of 13 works exhibited during the Summit and Adäka Cultural Festival, as well as in Toronto through a partnership with CONTACT Photography Festival during NUIT BLANCHE 2022 and two additional satellite locations.
ARCTIC XR/ARCTIC AR
Presented for the first time at the Arctic Arts Summit, ARCTIC XR/ARCTIC AR are two new interconnected media projects created in partnership with Nuit Blanche Toronto, organised by Aabijijijwan New Media Lab, Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership, and The Space Between Us, and supported by the Indigenous Screen Office, Canadian Media Fund, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Using VR headsets, ARCTIC XR envelops audiences in six new immersive films created by northern Indigenous artists. In ARCTIC AR, participants experience a whole new world through their handheld device by walking along the Yukon River and seeking out QR Codes, in order to engage with augmented reality works by artists from around the circumpolar north both virtually and on the land.