♪
Hi, my name's asinnajaq.
I'm one of the co-curators of
the exhibition INUA at the new building, Qaumajuq.
Which is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1.
I am from Inukjuak, Nunavik.
My parents are Carol Rowan and Jobie Weetaluktuk.
So today I would love to tell you about a couple of
art works that are in this exhibition, INUA.
♪ ♪
This was a really unique way to curate,
as the building was being built while we were curating.
So it was hard to have a sense of space and to know
what was going on but I think we did a great job.
That opening room in the exhibition where
these artworks are...
It's meant to be a space of grounding,
we have these pieces which are ancestor works.
Me and my co-curators, we each have a work that's
from a family member, which is a way to kind of
be honest and to name ourselves and where we come from
so that as you go into the rest of the exhibition
you're knowing whose eyes are looking through.
One of the pieces I'd like to tell you about is by
Elisapi Inukpuk who is my great aunt.
She is a doll-maker.
Once we unboxed them and installed them I felt
really cozy and grounded.
To me, those pieces by her are really special.
She made them explicitly to tell stories to children.
♪ ♪
We got the idea to kind of do a salon-style hang of
wall hangings because we have so many wall hangings
that we were able to pick artworks from and because
we have some massive walls.
So it was just an amazing opportunity.
So another piece that I want to talk to you about
is this work by Mary Yuusipik Singaqti.
This wall hanging is really fun.
It's just really joyful and shows how artists can
have fun and be a bit imaginative with their work.
And the last artwork that I'd like to tell you about
is called "My Little Corner of Canada."
So this is one of the works
that was made specially
for the opening of Qaumajuq.
♪ ♪
It's a four-channel video installation
which is installed in a kind of replica of Zach's cabin.
And the people that are in the video are youth
and elders and they're talking to each other,
they're exchanging knowledge and having a snack.
And it's really just slow, but grounding and tender.
At the same time, that will happen on one screen
and then maybe on the opposite screen,
all of a sudden it's a NIRB hearing.
So people who want to extract resources from our land,
they're talking.
And it's a really thoughtful way I think
to have this conversation and to show what's at stake
really and whose voices are being heard at these
hearings and who's being listened to.
And it's really unfortunate that we can't
get everyone in to see it right now.
♪ ♪
So I'm really excited for this exhibition INUA,
it was a pleasure putting it together,
and I'm very hopeful that while it's open -
it should be open for a year -
that as many people as possible get to see it in a safe way.
♪ ♪