Perspectives on Art, Culture and Climate Change from Canadian Geographic

SPOTLIGHT

ᐃᓗᓕᖏᑦ ᐱᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᖃᓪᓗᓇᑎᑐᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ

A zoomed-in view of a panorama-format oil painting depicts a creek running down the centre of the canvas, with pink blossoms growing on either side of it, nestled in a mountainous landscape.

This spotlight showcases a selection of stories from Canadian Geographic about the North—its dramatic, ice-sculpted landscapes, its unique flora and fauna, and the resilience and ingenuity of those who call the Arctic home. At the same time, these stories are underpinned by the understanding that climate change is reshaping the Arctic faster than any other place on Earth. As an organization based in Southern Canada and covering stories from across the country, Canadian Geographic recognizes the urgent need to listen to northerners on issues like food insecurity, shipping, pollution, biodiversity loss and cultural preservation and understand how these challenges stand to affect not just the Arctic, but the rest of the world. 

A zoomed-in view of a panorama-format oil painting depicts a creek running down the centre of the canvas, with pink blossoms growing on either side of it, nestled in a mountainous landscape.
Cory Trépanier, Ephemeral Beauty (2020) (detail). Tanquary Fiord, Quttinirpaaq National Park, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. COURTESY CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC.

The magazine has tended to approach these subjects through a scientific lens, but as the stories below demonstrate, art and artists play an equally important role in communicating complex issues, creating space for dialogue and reflection. 

Canadian Geographic is proud to partner with the Canada Council for the Arts to build and manage the digital platform for this year’s Arctic Arts Summit, and to support the Inuit Art Foundation’s commissioning and curating six months of digital programming leading up to the Summit. Supporting the Summit’s digital programming has created opportunities to listen and learn from artists and makers from across the circumpolar Arctic, and to continue to deepen connections with them. 

Creating in the Time of Climate Change: A Circumpolar Conversation
Thursday, June 16 at 2:00pm ET
Streaming live on the Canadian Geographic YouTube page and the Arctic Arts Summit website. 

Kakiniit: The art of Inuit tattooing
Inuit tattoos, or kakiniit, were once banned. Now they are worn with pride.

Our land: Mapping Nitassinan
An Innu school board has created a map to pass on intergenerational knowledge to schoolchildren.

Into the Arctic: The paintings of Cory Trépanier
Canadian painter and filmmaker Cory Trépanier explores the sublime and rapidly changing Canadian Arctic.

Logo for Canadian Geographic

 

Canadian Geographic partnered with the Canada Council for the Arts to create the Arctic Arts Summit digital platform with the aim of broadening engagement around the Arctic Arts Summit by boasting a wealth of content curated and commissioned by the Inuit Art Foundation. 

March/April 2022 issue of Canadian Geographic magazine.
The March/April 2022 issue of Canadian Geographic magazine. PHOTO ZAC ROBINSON.

 

 

About Canadian Geographic

Canadian Geographic magazine is a Canadian magazine that is unapologetic about celebrating Canada. We’re dedicated to uncovering and communicating the stories about Canadian people, places, frontiers and issues (past and present) that Canadian magazine readers want.

Published by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, each issue of Canadian Geographic is a voyage of discovery and exploration that features the latest science, environment, travel and human and cultural stories from across Canada. The writing comes to visual life through stunning photography, elegant art direction and one-of-a-kind cartography.

This award-winning tradition began in 1930. Today, Canadian Geographic is published six times a year and is complemented by dynamic special interest publications that speak to our audience’s appetite for service-oriented editorial about Canada.

Each week, the Arctic Arts Summit Digital Platform spotlights an important region of the circumpolar North or organization working to support Arctic artists and their practices. Spotlights are an exciting introduction to the variety of perspectives across the circumpolar world and we invite you to learn more across the platform.