Art + Waste in Panniqtuuq

Positioned at the intersection of art, politics, and activism, this exhibition presents the work of an ad hoc group of artists aiming to bring awareness to the Arctic community of Panniqtuuq and its urgent waste crisis. Inuit artists Madeleine Aasivak Qumuataq, Jupa Ishulutak, Kawtysie Kakee, Annie Kilabuk (1932-2005), David Kilabuk, Talia Metuq, Oleepika Nashalik, and Maya Pitsiulak, with settler artist and researcher, Micky Renders, present a body of work that unearths personal and collective stories from lived experience providing a powerful counter-narrative to commonly held notions about the Inuit, settler colonialism, and waste itself.

Panniqtuuq, Nunavut, is a remote community of about 1,500 (mostly) Inuit located on the East Coast of Baffin Island. The climate crisis is causing the Arctic Permafrost to melt, resulting in a rapid degradation of its delicate ecosystem. As demand increases for natural resources, shipping and cruise ships multiply with the opening of the Northwest Passage, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) rapidly expanding, unprecedented volumes of waste and contaminants cause dramatic changes and damage to the land, sea, ice, and people. At the heart of the problem lies a culture of wasting and a capitalist system that counters the sustainable, semi-nomadic life the Inuit have led for millennia.

This exhibition centers the voices of Inuit artists to share their stories through painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, tapestry and digital media. This show aims to open axes of dialogue and support for Inuit sovereignty, self-determination, and the right to a healthy and safe environment. It ultimately asks us: who gets to define Arctic waste and who is responsible for it?

Madeleine Aasivak Qumuataq

Maya Pitsiulak
Shopping the Old Way
soapstone carving

David Kilabuk

Talia Metuq

Jupa Ishulutak

Oleepika Nashalik

Micky Renders
# 2 Research the ‘Expert’ and the North (or, Who is that white dude_)