Zacharias Kunuk Wins Governor General’s Award
Filmmaker, sculptor, and visual artist Zacharias Kunuk, OC, ONu, LLD, was awarded the 2026 Governor General’s Award in Artistic Achievement. Kunuk is known for his debut feature film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) (2001) and has since directed several films, including the award-winning Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice (2021) and Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) (2025). Created in 1999, the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts celebrate the vibrant arts community and recognize excellence in visual and media artists in Canada. Up to eight awards are given each year, six for artistic achievement, one for exceptional fine craft artistry, and one for outstanding contribution to the arts. Winners receive a medallion produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and $25,000.
Three Inuit Creators to Support on Orange Shirt Day
September 30 is Orange Shirt Day, a day dedicated to honouring residential school survivors, remembering the children who never returned home, and acknowledging the lasting impacts of the residential school system. Since 2021 it has also been recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Orange Shirt Day has become increasingly commercialized, with many large corporations selling orange-themed merchandise while glossing over the day’s deeper meaning. So while it should be default to support Indigenous creators on Orange Shirt Day, this corporate capitalization makes it all the more important to do so. Below are three creators you can support this year.
Inuvialuk artist and activist Nanook Gordon has been creating and selling orange shirts through the Native Arts Society since 2022, with proceeds supporting residential school survivors. This year, besides Gordon’s design, you can also order designs by Ojibwe artist Isaac Murdoch, Gwitch’in artist Jeneen Frei Njootli, and a shirt with an image of Anishinaabekwe jingle dress dancer Brianna Olson-Pitawanakwat.
Inuk artist Muckpaloo Ipeelie designed an orange shirt featuring an Inuit family that she sells through the website of the Urban Inuit Identity Project, an organization she founded to advocate for the rights of Inuit living in cities and extend support and resources to them.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national advocacy organization that champions the rights of the Indigenous populations in Inuit Nunangat, is selling stickers and iron-on transfers that people can use to show their support on National Truth and Reconciliation Day. Crafted by Arviat-based artist Nooks Lindell, the design features a child dressed in a traditional parka and holding on to an adult’s kakiniit-embellished hand. In bold orange letters it reads “Annirijavut,” an Inuktut phrase that translates to “those we cherish and protect.”
Innuteq Storch Exhibition on View in Denmark
Kalaallit photographer Inuuteq Storch’s solo exhibition Heart Beats Hope is on view at the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg in Aalborg, Denmark. Based in Sisimiut, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), and Copenhagen, Denmark, Storch focuses on highlighting everyday scenes of life in Kalaallit Nunaat in his work. Heart Beats Hope features recent works of intimate everyday scenes and portraits and landscapes. In 2024 he became the first Kalaallit artist to represent Denmark at the 60th Venice Biennale. Heart Beats Hope is a collaboration with the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands, where it will be on view in spring 2027, and is on view at Kunsten until January 3, 2027.
The 2026 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection to Release in October
The 67th annual Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection will be released on October 17. This year’s collection features 38 works by 13 artists, including artists who are new to the collection: Laina Gettah, Kanarvalik Niviaqsi, Mary Eli Parr, and Ashley Qavavau. Dorset Fine Arts has been releasing print collections since 1959, showcasing the works of acclaimed Kinngait artists. Prints will be on view September 30–October 10 at Craft Ontario in Toronto, ON, and officially released for sale on October 17.
CRAFTED on the Catwalk Celebrated North of North
On September 15, the 12th annual CRAFTED on the Catwalk was presented at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq in partnership with hit APTN, CBC, and Netflix series North of North. The event coincided with the premiere of the show’s second season, and cast members Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq alongside co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril were in attendance.
The evening included a Living Lookbook preshow, where models and artists displayed jewellery and other accessories available for purchase at the North of North market, which was held on September 16, and the CRAFTED: Show + Sale, which will be held November 6–8. The runway show was hosted by Indigenous advocate Michelle Chubb and featured more than two hundred looks from artists and designers from Manitoba, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut, and Nunavik, as well as Ice Cove, the fictional Arctic town in North of North. Presented annually, CRAFTED is an event that showcases contemporary craft, fashion, and design. Be sure to check out season 2 of North of North, streaming on CBC Gem and APTN TV.
New Docuseries Go North! Celebrates Indigenous Life and Travel Across the Changing Arctic
Premiered on APTN on September 3, 2026, Go North! (2026) is a documentary series that explores how Indigenous communities across northern Canada are responding to a rapidly changing environment while preserving cultural knowledge, community ties, and their ways of life.
The series is co-directed by Wendat artist and filmmaker Brad Gros-Louis, Inuk artist and filmmaker Olivia Ikey Duncan, filmmaker Amy Miller, and Kim O’Bomsawin, a filmmaker who is Abenaki from Odanak. Inuk artist Shina Novalinga narrates the series, and each episode focuses on Indigenous community members and a mode of travel within a specific region, beginning with kayaking in Nunavut, with Inuk singer-songwriter Terry Uyarak in the first episode.
Check Out a Recent IAQ Profile!
Tanya Lukin Linklater is a multidisciplinary Sugpiaq artist who currently splits her time between North Bay, ON, and Edmonton, AB. Dance, performance, sculpture, works for camera, works on paper, and writing are all part of her practice. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Aichi Triennale in Japan, Anchorage Museum in Alaska, Camden Art Centre in London, UK, and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON.