MONTREAL.- The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) invites you to experience a presentation of Inuit art that defies expectation. Shown in brightly lit renovated and modernized galleries totalling 200 m2 on the ground floor of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life doubles the Museum’s exhibition space dedicated to Inuit art.

Conceived by Inuk artist and curator asinnajaq, this new presentation of the Museum’s Inuit art collection prompts us to meditate on the rhythms of life particular to the circumpolar territories known together as Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homelands in Canada). It brings together works dating from 1949 to today that demonstrate richness and diversity in contemporary Inuit artistic expression.

Prioritizing a bold storytelling approach, this evolving display will be periodically updated over the next five years, allowing the public to admire a rotation of some 120 works by 70 Inuit artists from Nunavik, Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Nunangat. Many of the works are being presented at the Museum for the first time.

ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ UUMMAQUTIK: ESSENCE OF LIFE

The inaugural presentation of uummaqutik comprises 60 works from the MMFA’s collection – prints, drawings, textile works, photographs, paintings, sculptures and installations – by artists such as Siku Allooloo, Darcie Bernhardt, Lucassie Echalook, Charlie Alakkariallak Inukpuk, Niap, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Joe Talirunili and Jessica Winters, not to mention the eye-popping motorbike sidecar by Mattiusi Iyaituk and Etienne Guay, on loan from Avataq Cultural Institute, as well as a selection of works that are promised gifts from Lois and Daniel Miller. Later on, the space will also feature works by Kudluajuk Ashoona, Shuvinai Ashoona, Annie Pootoogook and Johnny Pootoogook, among other renowned artists.

Furthermore, artist Couzyn van Heuvelen has created Qulliq (2024), the MMFA’s second Indigenous art commission this year. This impressive glass sculpture, whose shape and title embody the qulliq oil lamp, widely used by Inuit, is also the artist’s first work to enter the Museum collection.

THE ENERGY THAT UNITES LIVING BEINGS AND TRANSFORMS OUR UNIVERSE

Through these artforms, artists share with visitors their views on the simple and extraordinary moments of life, including childbirth, child rearing, everyday activities and seasonal community work. Together, the works on view portray these moments as a sharing and transmission of energy between humans and all other living beings with whom we coexist, including the plants, stones and stars.

“ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik is an expansive collaboration between the entire MMFA team, the architecture of the galleries themselves, the artists and the public! I’m ecstatic about this space that has been created to celebrate the enduring legacies of Inuit art practices and artists. It is our collective knowledge and imagination that keep life vibrant,” says asinnajaq, artist and guest curator.

“This exhibition conceived by asinnajaq is a breath of fresh air that transports us on a wave of joy and curiosity into unique worlds and perspectives. From the more traditional sculptures and prints to new-fangled art forms, the blend of genres brings the new Inuit art galleries to life,” says Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art, MMFA.

“Now, thanks to ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik, the works of Inuit artists safeguarded by the Museum are more accessible than ever to all audiences. This new presentation attests, through the diversity of proposals and generations, to the vitality of artistic creation throughout Inuit Nunangat, and more broadly to Indigenous resurgence in Canada and internationally,” says Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices, MMFA.

Curated by asinnajaq, artist and guest curator, in collaboration with Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art, and Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices, at the MMFA.