The Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award takes over WAG-Qaumajuq this month!

The ceremony will include opening remarks and live performances, as well as passed appetizers and a cash bar. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the festivities and explore the exhibitions with FREE admission. Doors open at 6:30pm.

KAMA is a biennial prize organized by the Inuit Art Foundation, which celebrates mid-career Inuit artists and acts to connect Inuit artists with global audiences and with each other. Every two years, the award recognizes a longlist of 10 artists who each receive $2,500, a shortlist of five artists who each receive $5,000, and a prize winner who receives $20,000. The winning artist receives a solo exhibition at WAG-Qaumajuq, an accompanying exhibition publication, and WAG-Qaumajuq will acquire an artwork from the winning artist for its permanent collection. The prize also includes an artist-in-residency program, hosted at the Gallery.

The winner of the 2021 prize is Tarralik Duffy, an artist, jeweller and writer from Salliq (Coral Harbour), NU currently based in Saskatoon, SK. Her solo exhibition Tarralik Duffy: Gasoline Rainbows will open as part of the celebration, as a meditation on the beauty of the ordinary and the ways our cultural signifiers often come from the objects and materials of our day-to-day experiences. As part of the KAMA award, one of the works in Gasoline Rainbows will be acquired by WAG-Qaumajuq for the Gallery’s permanent collection!

As part of the celebration, Duffy will announce the 2023 recipient during the evening’s ceremony.

This special event should not be missed! Learn more about the shortlisted artists here. And learn more about Tarralik Duffy here.