Jessie Kleemann’s Installation and Performance at the Gwangju Biennale
Kalaaleq (Greenlandic) Inuk multidisciplinary artist Jessie Kleemann is representing Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) at the 16th Gwangju Biennale in Gwangju, South Korea. Her installation Kamiit Walking (2026) is on view within the Kalaallit Illuutaat Pavilion, co-curated by Danish curator Louise Bjeldbak Henriksen and American curator Amy E. Smith. Kamiit Walking consists of several 3D-printed kamiit—futuristic renderings of a pair of Kleemann’s own kamiik—which represent the fluid nature of Kalaallit Inuit identity and self-determined futures. The kamiit rest upon a pathway of coffee grounds, which represent colonial commodities and environmental impact. As part of the Biennale’s opening weekend programming, Kleemann accompanied the installation with a performance on September 5.
Kleemann’s work often looks at themes of land, identity, body, language, memory, and sovereignty. Her work has been shown around the world, including at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON; Nuummi Eqqumiitsulianik Saqqummersitsivik - Nuuk Art Museum in Kalaallit Nunaat; and the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, California. Kamiit Walking is on view at the Heekyungru Pavilion until November 15.
Laakkuluk Williamson’s 2026 Solo Exhibition Is on View in Person and Online
Kalaaleq multidisciplinary artist and curator Laakkuluk Williamson’s solo exhibition of visual work, Nuliaminik Neqilik (The Flesh of Wives) is on view at Nuummi Eqqumiitsulianik Saqqummersitsivik in Kalaallit Nunaat until January 31, 2027. Curated by Inuk writer, artist, and curator Taqralik Partridge, the exhibition was first shown at Mimosa House in London, UK, in April of this year and brings together sculpture, installation, imagery, and storytelling to examine Inuit identity, repatriation, and agency. The exhibition also opened virtually on October 29 through a collaboration between York University and Art Gate, an immersive virtual art event platform. The opening also featured a live artist talk with Williamson.
Screenings of Alexis Anoruk Sallee’s Latest Short Documentary Film
Emmy-nominated Inupiaq and Mexican director Alexis Anoruk Sallee’s short documentary film Niqipiaq: To Eat Real Food (2026) premiered on October 19 at the 2026 Elders & Youth Conference in Anchorage, Alaska. The documentary celebrates Alaska Native traditional food, subsistence practices, cultural identity, and generational knowledge and will also screen at the 20th annual LA Skins Fest in Los Angeles, California, on November 21. The film festival runs annually as part of Native American Heritage Month and features Indigenous films. This year there will also be a special screening of two episodes from Season 2 of North of North (2025–ongoing), followed by a discussion with lead actor Anna Lambe.
Sallee started her career in television and film in sound design before moving to directing and producing. Currently, she runs her own production company, Inua Productions, where she prioritizes Indigenous storytelling. This year, Sallee was one of the 2026 YWCA Alaska’s Women of Achievement Awardees, recognized for her leadership, mentorship, and commitment to her community.
Isaac Partridge Curated a Film Program Within the Toronto Queer Film Festival
Multidisciplinary artist Isaac Partridge curated the film program Iqqaumajut – They Remember, which screened at the Toronto Queer Film Festival on October 14. The program consists of six works created by Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer filmmakers, including Home/sickness (2025), directed by his sister, Akinasi Silaapik Partridge, and Indigiqueer Stories (2023), directed by Anika Nochasak. The film program was developed as part of the Indigenous Moving Image Mentorship Program in partnership with the Indigenous Curatorial Collective, which creates space for emerging 2SLGBTQQIA+ Indigenous artists to create short films alongside mentors. Partridge’s practice spans beadwork, drawing, textile, and filmmaking, and his beadwork was recently featured within Qillaniq (2026) at the National Gallery of Canada.
Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona Received an Award for Emerging Visual Artists
Multidisciplinary artist and writer Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona is one of the three laureates of the 2026 William and Meredith Saunderson Prizes for Emerging Visual Artists. Kabloona works in ceramics, prints, graphic art, wallhangings, knitwear, and more. Presented by the Hnatyshyn Foundation, the Saunderson prizes are awarded annually to artists whose practices are deemed to contribute to the legacy of art in Canada. This year, each of the laureates were awarded $10,000 and each of the finalists were awarded $4,000.
Kabloona’s work has been featured in several arts institutions, including the Art Gallery of Guelph in Ontario, Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, the Taseralik - Cultural Centre Sisimiut in Kalaallit Nunaat, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec. In 2023 she was shortlisted for the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award.
Exhibition on Kalaallit Nunaat on View at Copenhagen Contemporary
Fire & Ice: On Belonging and Becoming in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) is currently on view at the Copenhagen Contemporary in Denmark. The exhibition features work by eight contemporary artists who are connected to Kalaallit Nunaat: Martin Brandt Hansen, Julie Edel Hardenberg, Jessie Kleemann, Kim Kleist-Eriksen, Lisbeth Karline Poulsen, Inuk Silis Høegh, Emilia Sølvsten, and Inuuteq Storch. The title is inspired by Kleemann’s poetry collection Arkhticós Dolorôs (2021), and the exhibition examines themes of identity, heritage, grief, resilience, home, and loss. Fire & Ice: On Belonging and Becoming in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) is on view until December 31.
NOICE! Returns to Ottawa with Vol. 2
On International Inuit Day, November 7, NOICE! Vol. 2: A Night of Inuit Circumpolar Excellence will take place at Club SAW in Ottawa. Presented by Qamaniq Records and Debaser, NOICE! Vol. 2 will bring together a staggering lineup of Inuit musicians from Kalaallit Nunaat, Nunavut, and Nunavik: Nuunu, Piunguałaq (Christine Tootoo), and headliner Beatrice Deer! Kalaaleq artist Nuunu performs songs with her guitar that are often about love and the challenges of youth; earlier this year she performed at the 2026 Arctic Sounds music festival in Sisimiut. From Kangiqłiniq (Rankin Inlet), NU, Piunguałaq performs pisiit and katajjaq and will bring a full band to open with songs from her Juno-nominated debut album, Anirniliit Suli (2025). Deer, a widely acclaimed musician from Quaqtaq, Nunavik, QC, is known for her “Inuindie” music that includes throat singing mixed with indie rock sung in Inuktitut, English, and French.
Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq Welcomes First Indigenous Director and CEO
On October 22, Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq announced that John Mahli Lawa' Hampton will begin their roles as director and CEO of the gallery on December 10. A citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Hampton is the first Indigenous person to hold these roles at WAG-Qaumajuq. In these roles, Hampton will work with WAG-Qaumajuq’s Board of Governors to support sustainable growth and model the new museum in Canada—one that balances historical collections, contemporary art, Indigenization and reconciliation, and inclusive community learning. “I know WAG-Qaumajuq, and this region more broadly, has an important role to play in this current moment, so I am thrilled to be returning to Manitoba to support the role its artists and communities can play in making our world a better place to live,” says Hampton. [1]
Hampton has extensive art museum leadership experience, including previously serving as the Executive Director and CEO of the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, SK, and the Executive Director of the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon, MB.
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Maggie Napartuk is a multidisciplinary artist who is currently based in Montreal, QC. Her work spans printmaking, ice sculpting, soapstone carving, jewellery making, and illustration. Over the years, Napartuk has facilitated and participated in a number of workshops across Nunavik and Quebec. She also co-curated the 2025 exhibition Revival: Printmaking in Nunavik (2014–2019) at the Ottawa Art Gallery.
Notes
1 All quotes John Mahli Lawa' Hampton, Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq media release, October 22, 2026.