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Buy a sculpture, buy a snowmobile

Child with snowmobile artwork

Artist Lachaolasie Akesuk at the opening of Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood.

Have you ever wandered through an AGO exhibition and wondered what it would be like to have one of the artworks on display in your own home? A special opportunity exists right now for you to do just that, and with a very meaningful reason behind it.

As part of the AGO’s exhibition Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood, the AGO is inviting visitors to help complete the artwork Future Snowmachines in Kinngait by purchasing one of a limited edition of aluminum snowmobile sculptures made in collaboration by Canadian artist collective PA System, Embassy of Imagination and Kinngait Youth (Cape Dorset, NU).

People on a sled
Land trip.

The sale of each sculpture will fund the purchase of actual snowmobiles that will assist in establishing a long awaited, locally-run, youth land-trip program in Kinngait, Nunavut. Future Snowmachines in Kinngait will only be considered complete by the artists once groups of youth are pulled in qamutiit (sleds) by these new snowmobiles en route to go ice fishing. For the youth, going on the land with Elders transmits traditional knowledge. Beyond cultural persistence, going on the land contributes to wellness, food security and inspiration for artwork.

A silver sculpture of a sled.
Christine Adamie, PA System, Future Snow Machines in Kinngait, 2017.

A silver sled sculpture.
David Pudlat, Moe Kelly, PA System, Embassy of Imagination, Future Snow Machines in Kinngait, 2017.

 Nathan Adla, PA System, 2017, Future Snow Machines in Kinngait, 2017.
Nathan Adla, PA System, 2017, Future Snow Machines in Kinngait, 2017.

A silver sled sculpture.
Lachaolasie Akesuk, PAsystem, Embassy of Imagination, Future Snowmachines in Kinngait, 2017.

There are four individual snowmobile sculptures currently on view in Every.Now.Then. The sculptures began as play dough miniatures made by Kinngait youth. These were then 3D-scanned and 3D-printed on a larger scale, and cast at OCADU out of aluminum foraged from the former Peter Pitseolak School in Kinngait after it burned down . An edition of three additional snowmobile sculptures will be made, allowing for a total of twelve available for purchase. Each sculpture is priced at $15,000CAD. Along with the sculpture, buyers will be given a copy of the Future Snowmachines in Kinngait process book, and a printed photograph from the first land-trip taken as a result of this project.

These snowmobile sculptures can be purchased exclusively through AGO Art Rental and Sales. Email [email protected] for more information.

To learn more about Embassy of Imagination and their ongoing projects in Cape Dorset, Nunavut click here, and for more information about PA System and Embassy of Imagination's installation at the AGO click here.

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