Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuit

Nakasuk Alariaq

Nakasuk Alariaq is an Inuk-Finnish Canadian who was raised in Sikusiilak (Kinngait/Cape Dorset). She is currently a PhD student at Concordia University under supervisor Dr. Heather Igloliorte. She has completed her Master’s in Art History and Curatorial Studies at Western University where she focused her thesis on Inuit self-representation in arts institutions. In her master’s thesis, Nakasuk discussed contemporary Inuit art from her hometown and presented it as an exhibition Sanaugavut: Art from Kinngait at McIntosh Gallery (Western University) in the spring of 2019. Nakasuk’s writing and curating shares Inuit histories and material culture from a local Inuk’s perspective. Nakasuk has been published under arts magazines such as the Inuit Art Quarterly and The Canadian Arts Magazine and she has worked with institutions such as The Textile Museum of Canada, The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, The Varley Art Gallery in Markham and The Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Queen’s University).

Jonas Henderson

Jonas Henderson was born and raised in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. However, he traces his roots back to the community of Qaqortoq in Southwestern Greenland. He graduated from McGill University with a degree in civil engineering, and has just begun his first year of a master's of architecture at the University of Calgary.

This past year, Jonas has worked as a fellow at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) with Inuit Futures. His past experience also includes architectural research under Prof Ipek Tureli at McGill University, and studio experience with Meiklejohn Architecture in his hometown of Penticton. Jonas has also served as the senior co-chair for the McGill chapter of AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society), with the Chapter winning three awards during his time as senior co-chair.

Apart from work and school, Jonas spends his spare time doing architectural and fashion drawings, as well as short video production, photography, and sewing. Recently, he has begun to work with his father, Inuit sculptor Jonasie Faber, to learn the art of sculpting. He is eager to gain more artistic skills so he can better express himself through multiple forms of media.

Leanne Inuarak-Dall

Leanne Inuarak-Dall is an emerging writer and multidisciplinary artist based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (Vancouver, BC). Originally from Ontario with familial ties to Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), NU, she uses her work to explore her mixed heritage and what it means to be an Inuk raised in an urban setting. Her practice takes on many forms, including weaving, collage and beadwork. She is currently completing her studies in Fine Arts at Langara College and is a contributing editor to the Inuit Art Quarterly.

John Luke

John Luke is a Winnipeg based Inuk photographer. His main focus is landscape photography, alongside a budding passion for film and cinematography. Currently attending Willis College, John aims to complete his Diploma of Professional Photography in 2023. Editing and film location are just a few things he plans to specialize in throughout his career. His passion for film and digital media is driven by a desire to tell stories, his own and those of people he meets along the way.

Malayah Enooyah Maloney

Malayah Enooyah Maloney is a multidisciplinary artist originally from the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut. Her maternal side is Inuk from Mittimatalik, Nunavut and her paternal side is Irish from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Although she spent her childhood in the North, Malayah now considers herself an Urban Inuk. She currently resides on the unceded territories of the Shìshál, Squamish, and Syilx Nations where she is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia. While pursuing a four year degree in Media and Indigenous studies, Malayah studies a variety of art forms such as hand-poke tattooing, sewing, and beading. Her passion for art started as a young child, influenced by her grandmother's handmade parkas, and her home, which has always been filled with Indigenous art like Coast Salish prints and Inuit sculptures. Malayah creates art inspired by her mixed heritage and urban surroundings, and has been practicing everyday since the Pandemic. Her dream is to combine Indigenous advocacy with mixed-media to create culturally relevant content. 

Jennifer Qupanuaq May

Jennifer Qupanuaq May is an Inuk from Kuujjuaq, now residing in Pointe Claire, QC, with her three children. After a near fatal injury that almost left her paralyzed, Jennifer worked her way from having to be fed by others to walking again. She then decided she needed to go back to school. Six months after she left the hospital, she was able to return to being a full time mom, and soon also became a postsecondary student; once she graduates from John Abbott College's Media Arts program, she plans to study Film Production at Concordia University. While studying and raising her children Jennifer is also working part-time as an assistance producer and music coordinator for Nipivut  - Montreal's Inuit radio station - while also doing some contract work as a digital media creator and intermediate designer. Jennifer plans to pursue her passion for film editing and documentary filmmaking, and aspires to a career in the Inuit film industry.

Shania Noksana

Shania Noksana is in her second year of Business Administration at Yukon University in Whitehorse, YT. Growing up in Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Shania has loved everything to do with art from a young age, and she has tried her hand at anything to exercise her creative mind, including painting, sculpting, drawing, and sewing. While working at the Visitor’s Information Centre in Tuktoyaktuk, Shania enjoyed meeting people from all around the world who were interested in Inuvialuit land and culture. With a Bachelor’s of Business Administration, Shania plans to work on self-governance strategies at the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, while still being involved in her father’s dog mushing business in the tourism industry.

Arnatsiaq Qvist

Arnatsiaq Qvist was born and raised in northwest Greenland. Arnatsiaq graduated from Tech College Greenland, where she studied Geology and Resources. Currently, she is writing her major paper for her Bachelor of Translation and Interpretation at The University of Greenland. While studying, Arnatsiaq worked at the Greenland Representation in Washington, D.C. She is now freelancing in developmental editing, copy editing, and reviewing translations in Greenlandic, English & Danish. Arnatsiaq has been fortunate to sew and create content for a fabric company, allowing her to feed her passion for creating through textiles and fabric. She has used this opportunity to help foster a new understanding of sustainable fashion.

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski is from Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet) and Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She identifies as an arts leader, as an Inuk curator, qualitative researcher, scholar and writer. Her areas of expertise are Arctic anthropology, collections-based research, Inuit curatorial research and practice. Krista’s outlook, research and work are deeply rooted in her upbringing in Nunavut, and she feels it reflects in many aspects of her work.

Krista is a PhD student in Cultural Mediations at Carleton University. The future of Inuit art looks diverse to Krista. The field is continuously being re-charted by innovative, creative and outgoing artists that pave the way for new and diverse art.

Aghalingiak

Aghalingiak is an artist and creative consultant from Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut. They are currently studying Expanded Media at NSCAD University. Aghalingiak practices in a range of media such as painting, digital arts, metalworking, sculpting, drawing, film, and photography. Their previous work includes: volunteer work on Mural(s) at the Ikaluktutiak High School's canteen that is spread across three walls and ​the ceiling, which had one of John Franklin’s ships ​that had not been discovered at the time (2013-2015); Presence​ (2017), a digital art piece printed on metal canvas that was displayed at a local café; four large scale murals on the exterior walls of the Ikaluktutiak Public Swimming Pool that ​included youth and ​applied community values ​(2019-2020​); ​and their recent work includes two 8’x 4’ murals displayed on the front of the Cambridge Bay Mental Health Facility Hangujuq (Wander) and Ikajukti (Helper) (2020). Aghalingiak is interested in traditional Inuit tattoo design as well as leading community art programs that involve working with youth. 

Darcie “Ouiyaghasiak” Bernhardt

Darcie “Ouiyaghasiak” Bernhardt is an Inuvialuk/Gwichin artist from Tuktuyaaqtuuq, NT, Alumna of NSCADU in 2019 (BFA). Raised in Tuktoyaktuk where the ocean’s harsh winds carve into the Western Arctic landscape. Bernhardt has a special bond created from this ecosystem to their family and sense of place. Their practice has primarily focused on the narrative of domestic life in the North stemming from memories of home. Their first painting solo show titled Akisuktuaq was shown at Feheley Fine Art gallery (June 2021). They were a part of EVERYSEEKER’s Call + Response where they created video animation and collaborated with Silla and Rise single Pandemonium for their upcoming album. Bernhardt was the featured artist for the Inuit Art Foundation titled Nanuk and Jijuu at Art Toronto (October 2019). Bernhardt’s work was installed at Nuit Blanche (Montreal, 2019) as a part of GLAM Collective’s Memory Keepers I residency, and they were the curatorial assistant for Memory Keepers II at Art in the Open (Charlottetown, 2019). Their collaborative short films have been shown at ImagineNATIVE (Toronto, 2020), Maoriland Film Festival (New Zealand, 2021) and BIRRARANGGA Film Festival (Australia, 2021) for Greed Story. Their collaboration film with Carmel Farahbakhsh titled Nanuk & Bibi was shown at Nocturne (Halifax, 2020) and Toronto Short Film Festival (March 2021). They were part of RBC’s Emerging Artist Projects From Within and this past year they were awarded Indigenous Artist Recognition from Arts Nova Scotia (2020). More recently, their work can be seen in INUA, the inaugural exhibition at Qaumajuq, the new Inuit Art Centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, 2020-2021).

Darcie’s Website

Kayla Bruce

Kayla Bruce is an Inuk beneficiary under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement from Rankin Inlet, NU where she currently lives. Kayla is a recent graduate from the University of Winnipeg, receiving her Bachelor of Education in April 2021. She now works as an elementary school teacher in Rankin Inlet. As an Ilinniaqtuk with Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership, Kayla worked as an Educational Assistant at the Winnipeg Art Gallery where she created lessons and teaching tools for Qaumajuq that reflect Inuit knowledge and ideas. Kayla has also helped to form relationships between the University of Winnipeg and the Inuit community in Winnipeg.

Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette

Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette recently graduated from the museum studies program at Collège Montmorency in Laval, QC. Born and raised in Terrebonne, her mother’s family is from Igloolik, NU and her father is French Canadian. Isabelle currently lives in Montreal where she works in the museology department of the Avataq Cultural Institute, taking care of the Nunavik Inuit Art Collection. Isabelle helped to organize the exhibition of works from Avataq’s collection at KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples in 2019. Isabelle’s interests include Inuit art and collections, the repatriation of Inuit collections to the North, and continuing to learn about Inuit cultures from the Circumpolar North. She hopes to one day move back to Nunavut with her family.

Aedan Corey

Two Spirit writer and artist, Aedan Corey is the author of the chapbook INUUJUNGA (Coven Editions, 2020) and short story Anaanatiaq (Nipiit Magazine, 2020). Raised their whole life in Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut, a town of approximately 1,700 people, Aedan’s art is heavily inspired by their lived experiences as a queer Inuk. Their family roots are a mixture of Inuk and European, with maternal ties to Cape Dorset and Taloyoak, and paternal ties to Scotland. In addition to their writing and digital artistry, Aedan is also an amateur traditional Inuit tattoo artist. Currently residing in Ottawa, Aedan is studying undergraduate Indigenous studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at Carleton University. Their interests lie in creating safe spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ Inuit within their communities, as well as greater resources for those dealing with mental illness. 

Augatnaaq Eccles

Augatnaaq Eccles is a 22-year-old Inuk born and raised in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She is currently in the process of finishing her bachelor's degree in history at Carleton University. She is also a seamstress, and the creator of the TB parka, an art piece which mixes traditional parka making, Inuit wall-hanging techniques, and history to depict Inuit experiences with tuberculosis sanatoriums. A lot of Augatnaaq’s work combines her passion for Inuit history with her art. Her designs are often inspired by the work of her grandmother, Akpaliapik Karetak, who was an artist herself. 

Napatsi Folger

Napatsi Folger is a freelance short fiction and non-fiction writer from Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is a recent graduate of the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of British Columbia. Napatsi studied History and English at the University of Toronto, and worked in policy for the Government of Nunavut for 12 years. She has written both fiction and non-fiction for publications such as Taddle Creek Magazine, Word Hoard, Puritan Magazine, The Walrus, Matrix Magazine, The Town Crier and published her first Young Adult novel Joy of Apex in 2012 with Inhabit Media. She is currently an Associate Editor at Inuit Art Quarterly.

Emily Henderson

Emily Henderson is a recent graduate from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. While she has spent most of her life in the BC Interior, she grew up surrounded by Inuit art as the daughter of an Inuk artist and has also developed a taste for the distinctive artistic styles of the Pacific Northwest, where she moved at age 18. Emily was the Editor-in-Chief of the 2020 edition of The Ethnograph: Journal of Anthropological Studies. Emily is currently Executive Assistant at the Indigenous Curatorial Collective.

BRONSON JACQUE

Bronson Jacque is an Inuit visual artist who grew up in Postville, Nunatsiavut (Labrador). A student of NSCAD University, Bronson is completing his bachelor’s degree in fine arts and works as a Contributing Editor with the Inuit Art Foundation. He is passionate about multidisciplinary arts, delving into many mediums, but specializes in oil painting portraits. Growing up in a family filled with artists of different disciplines who are both traditionally and professionally trained, Bronson has been creating as far back as he can remember. Hoping to return to Nunatsiavut later in life with knowledge and resources to start community programs, Bronson has a drive to give back.  

“Whenever I’m painting something I take it as an honor to be painting it. I want to do the best job that I can. A lot of times I’ll forget to eat because I’m painting and I’m just so into it, that’s the days that I really enjoy because I just get lost in the painting.”

For Bronson, painting is a way to document memories of the people and places that define his experience. He hopes to shed light on the realities of living in the north and to portray a sort of nostalgia for a place people may not know. He believes that understanding one another is how we take down walls, and art is his way of helping people understand. Motivated by his work at the Inuit Art Foundation, Bronson is able to help other Inuit artists be seen, and in doing so, another Inuk perspective to be better understood.

Simeonie Kisa-Knickelbein

Simeonie Kisa-Knickelbein is a young Inuk born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut. A recent graduate from Nunavut Sivuniksavut, they have recently worked on the Sci-fi feature film Slash/Back (2020) filmed in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Simeonie is interested in further pursuing their education in film studies. Simeonie is currently the new Qaggiq Hub Director at Qaggiavuut in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Megan Kyak-Monteith

Megan Kyak-Monteith is an emerging artist from Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), NU who resides in Halifax, NS. Megan holds a BFA from NSCAD University, where she studied Interdisciplinary Arts focusing primarily on painting and illustration. Her work often revolves around memory and piecing together her own memories with images and stories shared with her. Megan was a finalist for NSCAD’s 2019 Starfish Student Art Awards, and received an honourable mention. Her work was installed at iNuit Blanche (Montreal, 2019) as a part of GLAM Collective’s Memory Keepers I, and she was an assistant curator for Memory Keepers II at Art in the Open (Charlottetown, 2019).

TIFFANY Raddi

Tiffany Raddi is an Inuvialuk British woman born in Inuuvik, NT, and raised in Fort Simpson, NT, in Dehcho Dene Territory. She currently lives in Ottawa, ON, on Algonquin Territory, where she is pursuing a double major in English and Indigenous Studies at Carleton University. Connecting with Indigenous communities in Ottawa has provided great comfort, support, and fostered many friendships for Tiffany. She has worked as a Research Assistant for the SSHRC-funded “Government Agents, Literary Agents: Inuit Books and Government Intervention, 1968-1985” and at the Carleton University Art Gallery. More recently, she participated in the Nagvaaqtavut | What We Found (Winnipeg, 2020) audio guide project for INUA, the inaugural exhibition at Qaumajuq, as a Writer, Orator, and Project Script Editor. Tiffany hopes to use her combined interest in English and Indigenous Studies to work within the publishing industry as a writer and editor for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit literature.

Nicole Luke

Nicole is an urban Inuk who is passionate about culture and design. Born in Yellowknife, NWT, Nicole is originally from the Kivalliq region of Nunavut where her family resides. She has lived in Winnipeg for the majority of her life and received her Bachelor Degree of Environmental Design at the University of Manitoba in 2019. Nicole graduated with a Masters in Architecture from the University of Manitoba in the Spring of 2021. She aspires to become one of the first Inuit architects. Due to her exposure of urban areas, she is focused on the design realities communities face within rural and non-rural areas and believes the built environment is a key factor to socio-economic agency. She is committed to indigenous initiatives and well being as well as sustainable building practices. Nicole continually exposes herself to learning opportunities and hopes to expose youth in northern communities to greater education related to the design field.

Christine Qillasiq Lussier

Christine Qillasiq Lussier is a recent Concordia University graduate student in Indigenous Oral History. Her maternal ties are to Salluit, Nunavik, and her paternal ties are franco-european. She has grown up around Tiohtià:ke and has been working within the Indigenous community for the past few years. She is currently a Community Support and Volunteer Coordinator at the The Montreal Indigenous Community NETWORK. Her interests lie in community engagement and development, working with youth in Nunavik, and languages. 

Benjamin McGregor

In 2012, Benjamin McGregor graduated from Capilano University’s Motion Picture Arts Program in North Vancouver, BC. Born in Inuvik & raised in Yellowknife, NT, Ben is currently working in Yellowknife with Western Arctic Moving Pictures as a Coordinator and Technical Assistant for the 4th Annual Symposia of the Future Imaginary. As a writer and director, Ben’s projects have screened at local, national, and international film festivals (Whistler Film Festival, Los Angeles Recovery Film Festival), and was nominated for a Leo Award from the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of British Columbia. He is passionate about stories that tackle social issues and loves genre films. Ben is happy to have begun his career in BC, but he is excited to continue to tell stories in the NWT and share them with wider audiences.

Kajola Morewood

Kajola Morewood is Inuk through her birth mother who is from Kuujjuarapik in Nunavik. She grew up in southern Alberta and British Columbia with her adoptive family who are settlers with British, Irish, and Icelandic backgrounds. In 2011, she graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Photography. While completing her degree, she received a grant from the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council to create a fur quilt combining Inuit material culture with European craft traditions. Through her art practice she explores personal identity and geographical and cultural displacement. She has found that one of the most meaningful ways to connect/reconnect with Inuit culture has been through the exploration of art and craft.

Kajola currently lives in Kelowna where she is the Indigenous Initiatives & Services Librarian at Okanagan College.

Anika Nochasak

Anika Nochasak was born in Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador but her home community is Nain, Nunatsiavut on the northern coast of Labrador. Anika’s first language as a child was Inuktitut, which she learned from her Inuk mother who raised her with traditional Inuit knowledge. As the youngest of five in her family, Anika was the only child to learn Inuktitut as her family wanted to preserve and revitalize the Inuit language for younger generations.

Currently entering her final year studying film at Concordia University in Montreal, Anika has a deep passion for films and documentaries. She is inspired by other Inuk filmmakers, such as Althea Arnaquq-Baril and Zacharias Kunuk, and has dreams of creating her own films and documentaries from her Inuk perspective. Interested in oral history and stories that have been passed down through her family, Anika would like to document her family and her community’s history. With Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership, Anika would like to start her creative journey.

Siku Rojas

Siku Rojas is a non-binary Inuk from Iqaluit, Nunavut. Their anaana is Aluki Kotierk, an Inuk originally from Iglulik, and their father is Mauricio Rojas, Kichwan from Peguche, Ecuador.

Having studied at Pearson College UWC and Nunavut Sivuniksavut, Siku is currently in a one-year program to complete their high school diploma with the PASS (Pathway to Adult Secondary School) program at Nunavut Arctic College. They hope to study at OCAD University in the future to further their artistic practice and develop the professional skills needed to one day open a tattoo studio in Iqaluit, allowing tattoo artists to thrive in their medium and provide a proper space to hold respect for the cultural practice of gifting tunniit. Siku also plans to start up a Precious Plastic program in partnership with all schools in Nunavut to reach their personal goal of making Nunavut a 100% self reliant recycling Territory. Siku currently works at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit.

As an artist, Siku’s practice ranges from prints and paintings to wall art, graphic design and digital illustration. Siku also dabbles in jewellery making with beads and animal skins and is learning to be a tattooist. In 2018, they participated as an Honouree with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s Imagine a Canada art and leadership program. In 2020, they held their first exhibition outside their home in Iqaluit to share their work with their community while respecting COVID guidelines. Since then, Siku’s work has been included in the Ivviulutit Art Show in Iqaluit (2021) and the Association des francophones du Nunavut’s exhibition celebrating International Women’s Day (2022).

Siku’s Website

JASON SIKOAK

Originally from Rigolet, Nunatsiavut (Labrador), artist Jason Sikoak specializes in drawing and mixed media. They are currently completing their bachelor's degree in studio arts and art history at Concordia University. Jason has participated in several exhibitions, including the Northern Lights 2014 Conference and Trade Show in Ottawa, SakKijâjuk: Art and Craft from Nunatsiavut, presented at Art Space (Nova Scotia) and Braiding our Stories: First Voices Week Exhibition at the VAV Gallery (Montreal). Their works are included in the collections of the Department of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development Canada, the Rigolet Inuit Community Government, and The Rooms (Newfoundland).

Jaelyn Terriak

Jaelyn Terriak is a recent graduate from Carleton University with a combined honours in Law and Indigenous studies. She is Inuk on her maternal side and grew up in Nain, Nunatsiavut with her Anȃnsiak (Grandmother) and Atȃtsiak (Grandfather)  until moving to Toronto when she was 9 years old. There, she lived and was raised by her family who is of afro-guyanese descent.

Jaelyn is currently working as a manager of an organization that provides National Programming for youth, while studying for her LSAT. Her research and work is embedded in her unique experience as an Inuk Guyanese woman, who has lived in and outside of Inuit Nunangat and has had to navigate her way through these dynamics. Her interests lay in the intersectionality of the Inuit experience which includes aspects such as: displacement, cultural shifts, identity and cultural reclamation.

Jessica Winters

Jessica Winters is an Inuk from the region of Nunatsiavut. She just recently graduated with a degree in Biology of Ecology and Conservation from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her passion for a healthy and vibrant ecosystem and its associated Inuit tradition and lifestyle is reflective in her art practice. Jessica grew up completely immersed in art and craft as most of her family members are practicing artists, both traditionally and professionally trained. Her journey as a craft person began as an interest as a teenager, but she has since established herself as a painter and sealskin worker. Since Jessica has moved back home, she is building onto this portfolio everyday with the help of her mother who is a talented and well-known seamstress. With Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership, Jessica curated the exhibition Saunituinnaulungitotluni | Beyond Bone for Inuit sculptor Billy Gauthier. As someone with no artistic training or exposure to curatorial research, this has been a huge learning experience for Jessica and she recognizes her tremendous fortune to have been given this opportunity. Jessica is currently the Community Energy Lead for Makkovik, Nunatsiavut.

Jessica’s Website

Tom Mcleod

Tom Mcleod is a Inuvialuit storyteller and multi-media artist based out of OCAD University in Toronto, Ontario and Aklavik, Northwest Territories in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Tom is a former CBC radio personality with a show on CBC Northbeat where he would tell stories of the land and traditional Inuvialuit and Gwich’in activities, such as hunting, trapping, fishing and traveling his traditional lands across the NWT and Yukon. He is a Canadian best author and Silver Birch Express nominated author for The Delta is my Home (2009), a children’s information book that focuses on life in the north. Tom was a television producer with Inuvialuit Communication Society, where he produced television and commercial content. He is also a social media producer for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation creating educational and informative content for the people of the north.

“I see the future of Inuit art going forward as a return to Inuit and Circumpolar traditional story telling mixed with the preferred art forms of the many Inuit across the globe and their individual practices.”

Tom’s Website