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WAG-Qaumajuq, RBC & Inuit Futures Launch INUA Virtual Experience

New portal gives access to Inuit art centre’s inaugural show from anywhere in the world

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 Territory, June 9, 2021: To celebrate National Indigenous History Month, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the team of curators behind INUA, are pleased to announce a new online platform that invites the public to experience INUA virtually—from anywhere in the world.

Made possible by the exhibition’s presenting sponsor RBC, INUA Online features an immersive 360° tour of the gallery space, detailed background on each artist, and access to a growing library of virtual sessions inspired by the exhibit. A central feature of the new site is an in-depth audio companion to INUA, which allows visitors to hear the stories behind key artworks, directly from Inuit voices.

The audio companion was created in partnership with the  Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project, an initiative that provides innovative, hands-on mentorship and training opportunities across the north and south for Inuit and Inuvialuit working in the arts.

INUA is the inaugural exhibition at Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre at WAG. Curated by a team representing all four regions of Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit regions of Canada), INUA brings together more than 90 Inuit artists from across the Arctic, urban south, and circumpolar communities.

Quick Facts: 

  • INUA Online offers website visitors virtual access to artist biographies with help from the Inuit Art Foundation, artwork images, and audio supplements that enrich the experience of the exhibition, no matter where you are in the world.
  • INUA is curated by Dr. Heather Igloliorte, asinnajaq, Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, and Kablusiak.
  • Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project is a hands-on mentorship program that aims to support Inuit and Inuvialuit in Canada as they pursue ambitions in the arts.
  • INUA Online features RBC Virtual Sessions, which launched in May and will continue bi-weekly throughout the run of the show with the artists and curators, including blogs, behind-the-scenes videos, panel discussions, storytelling, art-making workshops, and more.
  • Once WAG-Qaumajuq is able to reopen to the public, visitors to the gallery will be able to experience the audio companion for INUA through a QR code system.
  • INUA is on view until March 2022.

Quotes: 

“The WAG is very excited to be launching this audio guide with Inuit Futures! The guide augments both the in-person and digital experience of INUA – the inaugural exhibition of Qaumajuq. Visitors now have the opportunity to “go deeper” into the subject matter, mediums, context and culture of the individual artworks. Filled with engaging aural descriptions, and sound effects related to the exhibition pieces, the audio guide animates INUA with the voices and spirit of Inuit Nunagat.”
— Riva Symko, Head of Collections & Exhibitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq

“We’re thrilled to launch the INUA Online platform. This has been a massive collaborative project from start to finish, so as the Director of the Inuit Futures project and lead curator of INUA, I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone at the WAG and to all the Inuit and Inuvialuit post-secondary students, artists, our production team, presenting sponsor RBC, and my co-curators. INUA Online brings together numerous voices from Alaska to Greenland, and from Vancouver to Kuujjuaq. The audio guide features funny, touching, thoughtful and poetic responses to the works in the exhibition that invite viewers to see the works through our eyes, hearts and minds. It will also continue to grow throughout the exhibition, with new audio and video of the artists and their works!”
— Heather Igloliorte, Lead Curator, INUA and Director, Inuit Futures

“The INUA Virtual Experience enables audiences to engage with the beauty, creativity and vibrancy of Inuit art and culture, anytime, anywhere. RBC is honoured to be a partner in truly creating a global stage where the voices and expressions of Inuit artists lead us on a journey from remembrance to renaissance, and where we can learn more deeply about each artist and their craft.”
— Kim Ulmer, Regional President for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut and Western Ontario, RBC

Support

The WAG thanks INUA Presenting Sponsor RBC, Programming Partner Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project, as well as exhibition supporter the Dorothy Strelsin Foundation and Media Sponsors APTN and Pattison Outdoor Advertising, and Content Partner the Inuit Art Foundation.

 

Associated Links

INUA Online
Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project
RBC Emerging Artists Project

Stay Connected

Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram #atwag #qaumajuq365

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For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Amy Rebecca Harrison
Engagement Supervisor
Winnipeg Art Gallery
204.789.1347
aharrison@wag.ca

The Winnipeg Art Gallery (the WAG) is a cultural advocate using art to connect, inspire, and inform. Playing a dynamic role in the community, we are a place for learning, dialogue, and enjoyment through art. The WAG holds in trust the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world. To celebrate the art and to honour the Inuit, the WAG built Qaumajuq, the Inuit art centre. Now open, the centre bridges Canada’s North and South through exhibitions, research, education, and art making. To learn more visit wag.ca

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WAG-Qaumajuq recognizes that land acknowledgements are part of an ongoing dialogue with Indigenous Nations, and we are grateful to live and work on these lands and waters. Institutionally, WAG-Qaumajuq is committed to acknowledging our colonial history and we are actively working to interrogate the Gallery’s colonial ways of being.

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