Describing Sila
A new multimedia installation by acclaimed Kalaaleq artist ᓛᒃᑯᓗᒃ Laakkuluk is opening at the AGO July 16.
AATOOQ (Full of Blood), 2021 (still). A film by Ikumagialiit Performance Art Band Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Cris Derksen, Jamie Griffiths, Christine Tootoo
On July 16, acclaimed Kalaaleq (Greenlandic Inuk) artist – and winner of the 2021 Sobey Award – ᓛᒃᑯᓗᒃ Laakkuluk is unveiling her brand new multimedia installation, which incorporates video, soundscape and sculpture. The installation seeks to describe sila, the all-powerful Inuktitut word that captures the universe, the environment and the intellect. Curated by Georgiana Uhlyarik, AGO Fredrik S. Eaton Curator, Canadian Art, the installation will transform the AGO’s Fudger Rotunda and features texts in both English and Kalaallisut (Greenlandic).
On view for the first time since its 2018 debut and at the heart of the installation, is Silaup Putunga (2018) – a large-scale double-sided video, created by Laakkuluk and her long-time collaborator Jamie Griffiths. Filmed on location in Tikkuut, Nunavut, the artwork was inspired by the artists’ desire to create a ‘living print’ that harnesses both printmaking and the life forces of the land. Designed as an evolving narrative and accompanied by a soundscape created by Celina Kalluk and Laakkuluk, the video features Laakkuluk performing uaajeerneq, a Greenlandic mask dance and follows as she chops ice, drives a skidoo, aims a gun and walks across the land.
Additionally, the installation includes a selection of Inuit soapstone sculptures from the AGO’s Williamson Collection. Donated by Laakkuluk’s parents – Dr. Robert G. Williamson, O.C. and his wife, Dr. Karla Jessen Williamson – these sculptures were made in the Kivalliq region during the initial phase of Inuit resettlement into colonial institutions, a period that marked the beginning of the contemporary Inuit art movement. These sculptures, says Laakuluk, reflect her mother’s own search for sila.
“’Naak silavit qeqqa?’ – which translates into English as ‘Where is the middle of your sila?’ - is a question that my mother puzzled over when she was young and that has passed through the generations to my own children; three short words that cement our open-ended spiritual understanding of our place in existence,” says Laakkuluk. “In Silaup Putunga, Jamie Griffiths and I show the idea of sinking from one surface of reality to another by travelling through layers of my face, my mask and the landscape/icescape we live upon.”
On July 16 at 2 pm, artists ᓛᒃᑯᓗᒃ Laakkuluk and Jamie Griffiths will appear in AGO’s Jackman Hall for a free screening of a selection of their short films followed by a Q&A. Before the screening (1:30 pm), the artists will also spend time in installation interacting with visitors. This event also marks the launch of Qummut Qukiria!, a new anthology celebrating art and culture within and beyond traditional Inuit and Sámi homelands in the Circumpolar Arctic, edited by Anna Hudson, Heather Igloliorte and Jan-Erik Lundström. The book includes a chapter written by Laakkuluk, recounting the story of the killing of the polar bear, that later became the material for Laakkuluk’s Sobey Award-winning installation in 2021. For details and to book your free ticket, visit ago.ca/events/laakkuluk-laakkuluk-williamson-bathory-and-jamie-griffiths.
Naak silavit qeqqaa? is on view in the AGO’s Fudger Rotunda through spring 2023.
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