Anaanatta Unikkaangit [Ah-nah-nah-ta Ou-nee-kahn-geet] showcases the work of Billy Gauthier, Gayle Uyaqaqi Kabloona, Kablusiak, Maureen Gruben, and Ningiukulu Teevee. These five Inuit artists make up the inaugural shortlist of the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award (KAMA), a biennial prize honouring the life and legacy of the late Kenojuak Ashevak. The award was created to celebrate the work of Inuit artists by promoting their brilliance, aiding their career growth opportunities, and providing financial support.
These five artists work in a variety of media, Gauthier’s deep appreciation for the land can be felt through his work as a sculptor of organic materials like stone and bone, antler and sinew. Uyaqaqi Kabloona is a textile artist, creating bold and effervescent prints on paper, ceramics, and wall hangings. Gruben is known for her captivating installations and performances using hides, furs, and bones, often commingled with manufactured materials like resin or plastic. Kablusiak uses humour and irony in their mixed media installations to confront and critique oppressive regimes. Teevee’s drawings ignite the imagination with playful depictions of childhood memories, stories, and social commentary.
The artwork selected to represent each of the shortlisted artists in this exhibition not only demonstrates their excellence, but it also reveals the heart of their respective practices: anaanatta unikkaangit. This exhibition honours the stories, the work, and the care of mothers and grandmothers—like Kenojuak Ashevak—that guide contemporary Inuit art.
Congratulations to the 2023 Shortlist Artists
Billy Gauthier • Maureen Gruben • Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona • Kablusiak • Ningiukulu Teevee
More on the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award
Shortlist Artists
Billy Gauthier Billy Gauthier
Born in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nunatsiavut, NL, Billy Gauthier is an artist and activist currently based in North West River, NL. He initially began to carve in 1996—inspired by his cousin, John Terriak, a skilled Nunatsiavut sculptor, to create further works. Gauthier’s exceptionally detailed, mixed-media sculptures combine various materials, such as stone, bone, antler, ivory, sinew and baleen (whalebone) to depict traditional Inuit practices, cosmologies, spirituality, personal memories and more.
Maureen Gruben Maureen Gruben
Maureen Gruben is an installation, performance and textile artist from Tuktoyaktuk, NT. Gruben’s knowledge of the arctic environment is rich and the admiration she feels for what the land offers for both survival and creation, can be felt through her work. Working primarily with fur, hides, skins and manufactured materials, Gruben forges a link between land and community by activating themes around environmentalism, melting ice and Indigenous hunting rights. Gruben has been recognized through many awards and has exhibited across Canada at institutions such as the Art Gallery of Guelph, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona
Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona is a multidisciplinary artist from Ottawa, ON, who creates ceramics, prints, graphic art, wallhangings, knitwear and more. Kabloona’s work is inspired by the art of her grandmother, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, and the colours and bold shapes of her great-grandmother, Jessie Oonark, and often incorporates traditional Inuit stories told through a modern, feminist lens.
Kablusiak Kablusiak
Kablusiak is an Inuvialuk artist and curator based in Calgary, AB. Born in Yellowknife, NT and raised in Edmonton, AB they use art and humour as a coping mechanism to subtly address diaspora, and to openly address mental illness; the lighthearted nature of their practice extends gestures of empathy and solidarity. Their work has been exhibited extensively throughout Alberta and Quebec and has been featured in the Summer 2017, Winter 2017, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2021 issues, and was the cover artist on the Spring 2022 issue of the “Inuit Art Quarterly.” They are represented by Norberg Hall Gallery in Calgary, AB.
Ningiukulu Teevee Ningiukulu Teevee
Graphic artist and author Ningiukulu Teevee is beloved for her whimsical and narrative-driven work. Based in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, Teevee made her print collection debut in the 45th Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection in 2004. In the years since, her work has been included in every subsequent collection to date. Through both her visual art and writing, Teevee shares her unique perspective on historical and contemporary Inuit culture, employing a deft ability to translate traditional stories into dynamic compositions. Her debut children’s book Alego (2019) was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s illustration, and her stories have appeared in the Inuit Art Quarterly. Teevee’s signature walruses have twice been featured on the cover of the Inuit Art Quarterly, first in 2009 and again in 2014 and within the magazine countless times. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba, among others.
2023 Longlist Artists
Manasie Akpaliapik • Deantha Edmunds • Billy Gauthier • Glenn Gear • Maureen Gruben • Gayle Uyagapi Kabloona • Kablusiak • Gloria Putumiraqtuq • Ningiukulu Teevee • Couzyn van Heuvelen
Each of these talented artists will receive $2,500 and be featured in a limited edition catalogue, exclusively available to Inuit Art Quarterly subscribers.
In the news
Winnipeg Free Press: WAG-Qaumajuq puts spotlight on KAMA finalists, May 19, 2023
CBC: WAG-Qaumajuq exhibition celebrates 5 Inuit artists shortlisted for national award, May 19, 2023
Galleries West: Anaanatta Unikkaangit (Our Mother’s Stories) | KAMA Shortlist Exhibition, May 19, 2023
Stories
To plan your visit, check out wag.ca/visit
