iNuit Blanche in Photographs

Project Spotlight: Highlights from a multi-site festival of Inuit art in Montreal

Land Creating Technology
Person dancing on a stage.
Author
Photography by

The iNuit Blanche Gallery Crawl was organized by Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership and presented in association with the 21st Inuit Studies Conference at the Université du Québec à Montréal. On October 3, 2019 downtown Montreal was transformed for one evening by this multi-site festival, which featured exhibitions and performances by Inuit artists (and their collaborators) from across Inuit Nunangat in Montreal’s museums and galleries. 

Memory Keepers I | Gardiens des memoires I was re-installed at Concordia University’s 4th SPACE. La Guilde hosted the vernissage of Nunatsiavut—Our Beautiful Land, an exhibition of works by artists from Nunatsiavut, including Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuit Jason Sikoak and Jessica Winters. Unikaatuaqtut | Storytelling, a series of short films curated by Ilinniaqtuk Sim Knickelbein, was presented at the McCord Museum. Galerie Elca London exhibited a preview of the 2019 Cape Dorset Print Collection. Finally, an Inuit Art Night Market took place in the FOFA Gallery courtyard at Concordia University.

Group of young people dancing on a stage.
Nunavik Sivuniksavut student dance performance at the opening ceremony of iNuit Blanche. DB Clarke Theatre, Concordia University, Montreal QC. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Two people on a stage throat singing, surrounded by a group of other people.
Nunavik Sivuniksavut students throat singing at the opening ceremony of iNuit Blanche. DB Clarke Theatre, Concordia University, Montreal QC. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Oil painting of hands cutting whale skin and blubber on a bed of cardboard, projected onto a canvas tent.
Memory Keepers I (2019) was re-installed at Concordia's 4th Space for the night of iNuit Blanche. Megan Kyak-Monteith, Maktaaq (2019) projected onto Jason Sikoak’s Labrador Tent (2019). PHOTO :ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Person wearing headphones looks at abstract black and white drawings on a screen.
Megan Kyak-Monteith watches Greed Story (2019) by Darcie Bernhardt and Tom McLeod, installed at Concordia's 4th Space, Montreal, QC. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
People look at stone sculptures in a glass display case.
Visitors were treated to a preview of the 2019 Cape Dorset Print Collection and other Inuit artworks at Galerie Elca London in Montreal. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Crowd of people in a busy art gallery.
Vernissage of Nunatsiavut—Our Beautiful Land (2019), an exhibition of over 40 works by artists from Nunatsiavut, the Inuit region of Labrador, to interpret the theme of land and territory at La Guilde, Montreal. PHOTO BY ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Two people converse amid a crowd of people in an art gallery.
Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuk Jason Sikoak at the vernissage for Nunatsiavut—Our Beautiful Land, La Guilde, Montreal QC. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Three people gather around a drawing of an Inuk hunter in silver ink on black paper.
Jason Sikoak, Seal Hunter (2019) at the vernissage for Nunatsiavut—Our Beautiful Land, La Guilde, Montreal. PHOTO :ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Person stands with their arms crossed in front of a large projected film still of a man’s face.
Inuit Futures Ilinniaqtuk Sim Knickelbein curated the programming for Unikaatuaqtut | Storytelling, a screening series of short films at the McCord Museum on iNuit Blanche. Still from Killormut (directed by Ulannaq Ingemann). PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
Crowds of people gather in a courtyard at night.
The FOFA Gallery courtyard at Concordia University hosted the Inuit Art Night Market where Inuit artists sold beadwork, prints, jewelry and more. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.
People examine items for sale at a night market.
The FOFA Gallery courtyard at Concordia University hosted the Inuit Art Night Market where Inuit artists sold beadwork, prints, jewelry and more. PHOTO: ENITAN ADEBOWALE.

Curator Biography: 

Michelle Sones is a white settler graduate student born and raised in Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal. She completed her BFA in Art History at Concordia University in 2019, where she continues to study in the MA program under the supervision of Dr. Heather Igloliorte. Her MA research on institutions and Indigenous artist-run spaces is supported through the SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship for 2019-2020, and the FRQSC Bourse Maîtrise en recherche for 2020-2021. Michelle is the Online Content Editor for Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project.

This story is part of the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project Spotlight. View more content from the Spotlight here.

Article Tags

Canada | Community | Conceptual Art | Decolonization | Digital Arts | Education | Film | Gender | History | Indigenous | Installation | Institutions | Inuit | Language | Mixed Media | Music | Performing Arts | Visual Arts | Women
Previous Back to All Articles Next

You May Also Like

Inuit Cinema to Watch

The Labrador Documentary Project

A flexible format that lends itself to experimentation, the short film anthology can carry multiple voices and stories,…

Land Creating Representation
Read Article

Exhibitions at Havremagasinet Länskonsthall on Urgent Issues of Our Time

This article’s profile of Carola Grahn’s exhibition contains content that may distress some readers, especially those who have experienced harm, abuse and/or…

Land Climate Possible Futures
Read Article