Profile: Aedan Corey — Inuit Futures

Aedan Corey is a postsecondary student, multidisciplinary artist, and emerging curator and project coordinator. They currently reside in Ottawa, ON where they are completing a bachelor’s in Indigenous studies, including coursework in women’s and gender studies. Originally from Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Aedan originally moved to Ottawa in 2018 to pursue higher education, yet has also become closely affiliated with the Nordic Lab at Ottawa’s SAW gallery. As Nordic Lab’s project manager, in collaboration with Inuit Futures, they coordinated and moderated a two-part Zoom panel series where guests spoke about their knowledge of Inuit tattooing (Inuk Ink), and in November 2022, they organized the first ever Ukiaksaaq Indigenous Art Market at the gallery, which was a highly successful sale showcasing numerous local artist’s works. They are also a curatorial assistant and part of the gallery’s production team. This involves producing exhibition materials such as screen printing t-shirts and tote bags and making prints on paper, for sale during the exhibition. For example, they assisted in the creation of the works for sale during the Tarralik Duffy exhibition, Pop Chip Kukuk (2022). Aedan worked closely with Inuit Futures Leadership Group member and Mentor Taqralik Partridge, former Director of Nordic Lab, and now an Associate Curator of Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

“Being mentored by Taqralik has been a mind-blowing opportunity for me. [She is] so patient and willing to help, always. [It was] so great going through the process of helping with the exhibition, [and that] went on to her making sure that I have enough opportunities even aside from the Nordic Lab with my own artistic endeavours, offering to help me write grants and stuff like that. It’s been a learning process and also really fun and helpful and instrumental to me being where I’m at now in my artistic career.”

Aedan’s work at the SAW gallery has motivated their personal art practice and they now feel more confident in their skills and what they can achieve. They are in the process of creating a website to sell their work and create work on commission, most recently for Pique, a quarterly festival-like event held at SAW and Arts Court in Ottawa. Pique features musicians, artists, entertainers of all backgrounds, and Aedan was asked to make art for the event. Aedan created a screen-printed installation centring Inuit sexuality, that was exhibited in the Ottawa’s Arts Court building throughout the event. Over the last year, they were awarded an Ontario Council grant. With this grant, Aedan is working on producing a collection of poetry stemming from the chapbook of approximately fifteen poems and illustrations they produced last year (2021), and they ultimately hope to submit the collection for publication.

Aedan first heard about Inuit Futures through Aghalingiak, a former Ilinniaqtuit and recent graduate of NSCAD University, who is also from Iqaluktuuttiaq. Aedan credits their participation in Inuit Futures as having led to many opportunities that provided new platforms and scope for their artwork in a way that is both personally beneficial yet also beneficial to others:

“I’m now helping to give opportunities to others, and it feels really good to be involved in community in that way. I think that’s really what Inuit Futures is about: giving opportunities not only to individuals but helping them to help their communities as well.”