ARCTIC XR — Inuit Futures

The ARCTIC XR project, formed out of The Circumpolar Incubator: Northern Indigenous Screen-Based Arts and Installation, brought together a group of emerging and mid-career northern Indigenous artists from across Inuit Nunangat, the Yukon and Northwest Territories to develop, transform and expand their existing artistic practices with the use of new technologies and screen-based media for digital storytelling. The Circumpolar Incubator was held in Montreal from May 20th - 30th, 2022 and hosted at the Milieux Institute, located at Concordia University, by Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/ Pijariuqsarniq Project. ARCTIC XR was created in collaboration with numerous talented filmmakers, artists and organizations around the circumpolar north. Co-created by a partnership between Nuit Blanche Toronto, Aabijijiwan New Media Lab, The Space Between Us and Inuit Futures, with support from the Milieux Institute for Arts and Culture and Technology, Western Arctic Moving Pictures, Artless Collective, International Sámi Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Office for Contemporary Art Norway and NORDIC BRIDGES 2022, alongside generous funding and support from the Indigenous Screen Office and Canada Media Fund.

Still of Tartupaluk (2022), Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, ARCTIC XR, 2022.

Still of Tuvak Akkusinialuk Siaggijâk (2022), Mark Igloliorte, ARCTIC XR, 2022.

Still of The Way Home (2022), Mellow Nakehk’o, ARCTIC XR, 2022.

Still of Mikigiaq (2022), Nyla Innuksuk, ARCTIC XR, 2022.

Still of Ajagutaq/Parhelion (2022), Tanya Tagak, ARCTIC XR, 2022.

Still of “Ełeghàà; All At Once” (2022), Casey Koyczan, ARCTIC XR, 2022.

ARCTIC XR debuted at the Arctic Arts Summit in Whitehorse (June 2022). Presented on multiple VR headsets and turning stools, the public experienced the new 360° video works from the six leading circumpolar Indigenous creators: Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Nyla Innuksuk, Mark Igloliorte, Tanya Tagaq, Melaw Nakehko, and Casey Koyczan over the course of the Summit.

Danielle Miles and Matt Brulotte facilitate ARCTIC XR at the Arctic Arts Summit, Whitehorse, Yukon, 2022.

ARCTIC XR at the Arctic Arts Summit, Whitehorse, Yukon, 2022.

Ilinniaqtuk, Siku Rojas, uses a VR headset to watch ARCTIC XR at the Arctic Arts Summit, Whitehorse, Yukon, 2022.

These exciting new works were exhibited on a massive circular screen inside a lávvu as part-of the Sámi Pavillion of the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale de Venezia in conjunction with seven new ÁRRAN 360° films by Sami artists and filmmakers from across Sápmi. In connection to the Biennale Cinema and Biennale Arte, ÁRRAN 360° and ARCTIC XR presented a new digital realm where Indigenous storytellers catalyzed vital exploration and dialogue about Indigenous perspectives on Extending Reality (XR), forefronting the exploration of XR-technologies and the role of Indigenous artists in the future of digital storytelling. Read more about the Venice Biennale collaboration here.

Melaw Nakehk'o, The Way Home (2022), ARCTIC XR at Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, 2022. Photo: Priam Thomas.

Casey Koyczan, “Ełeghàà; All At Once” (2022), ARCTIC XR at Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, 2022. Photo: Priam Thomas.

Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Tartupaluk (2022), ARCTIC XR at Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, 2022. Photo: Priam Thomas.

Mark Igloliorte, Tuvak Akkushialuk Siaggijak (2022), ARCTIC XR at Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, 2022. Photo: Priam Thomas.

Nyla Innuksuk, Mikigiaq (2022), ARCTIC XR at Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, 2022. Photo: Priam Thomas.

Tanya Tagaq, Ajagutaq/Parhelion (2022), ARCTIC XR at Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, 2022. Photo: Priam Thomas.

During Nuit Blanche Toronto (October 2022), ARCTIC XR was exhibited as an outdoor installation at the Queen’s Quay, Harbourfront Center, presented again in a circular 360° projection, emphasizing the sensory experience of each video and immersing the public in each story.

ARCTIC XR is:

Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory (Inuk), Tartupaluk (2022) – Welcome to Tartupaluk, a tiny island republic in Inuit Nunaat, presided over by a President and an Angakkoq.

Casey Koyczan (Dene), “Ełeghàà; All At Once” (2022) – Inspired by legends, our current climate and society, and imagined paths forward, this short film asks what our world was, what it is now, and how it might be in the future.

Melaw Nakehk’o (Dene), The Way Home (2022) – A young man makes the long walk home after an unsuccessful hunting trip, connecting the routes of our ancestors to our journeys today.

Mark Igloliorte (Inuk), Tuvak Akkusinialuk Siaggijâk (2022) – Join four Indigenous skateboarders on the Dettah Ice Road over the frozen Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories as they connect to language, land and movement through spray paint, grip tape, country food, and Inuit electropop.

Nyla Innuksuk (Inuk), Mikigiaq (2022) – An inexperienced hunter is determined to hunt foxes in the nearby woods, but ends up catching something much more unexpected instead.

Tanya Tagaq (Inuk), Ajagutaq/Parhelion (2022) – Be transported to a magnificent landscape in Nunavut where Arctic beings and spirits become one from this excerpt from the artist’s novel Split Tooth (2018).