ᐃᖃᓪᓕᐊᒋᐊᓯᕗᒍᑦ/ Vulge oaggut / Aller à la pêche / Going fishing : Circumpolar Artist Residency Exchange Exhibition
The McClure Gallery, in collaboration with the Avataq Cultural Institute and the Sami Center for Contemporary Art (Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš - SDG), is delighted to present an artist-in-residency exhibition of two emerging Indigenous artists: ulivia uviluk, an Inuk artist, and Laila Labba, a Sámi artist. This circumpolar artist residency exchange project began in spring 2024, with the artists doing a residency together in Ivujivik, Nunavik, followed by a residency in Sapmi (Sámi territory), Norway.
This exhibition features the work of two Indigenous artists whose art is deeply rooted in their Arctic heritage. Their time together spent creating and exploring the northern landscapes sparked a powerful connection and lasting friendship. Labba’s work, spanning digital and traditional techniques, celebrates Sámi culture and nature, while uviluk’s film, beading, and writing blend Inuit traditions with her unique perspective. Together, their art offers a fresh, inspiring view of Indigenous life today.
This international collaboration celebrates the diversity of circumpolar artistic traditions and practices, and continues the partnership between the Visual Arts Centre and the Avataq Cultural Institute, as well as Aumaaggiivik, the Nunavik Arts Secretariat. The VAC has had an ongoing collaboration with Avataq in recent years, resulting in three exhibitions (Ullumimut: Between Tradition and Innovation, in 2015; Illirijavut: Our Precious Values in 2018, and With the Seasons in 2022) and three trilingual publications, as well as a touring exhibition.
The artists:
ulivia uviluk (Olivia Lya Thomassie) is a multidisciplinary artist from Kangirsuk, Nunavik, QC, whose practice encompasses film, beading, writing and more. She wrote the artist's portrait on the platform Tarqitamaat during her time as the project agent at Avataq from 2020 to 2022. She has been an actress in the show Épidemie and the theatre play Aalaapi and worked as the project agent for the play Aukkauti at Aaqsiiq. Although film and performance remain important to Uviluk, she is currently focussing more on visual arts.
Laila Labba is a Sámi contemporary artist and illustrator from Karasjok in Norway. Labba works with analog and digital drawing, painting, and printmaking, and her artistry is rooted in Sámi culture and nature. She holds a bachelor’s degree in illustration from the University of Huddersfield and a course-based bachelor’s degree in Knowledge of Indigenous Cultural Expressions and Arts from Sámi Allaskuvla in Kautokeino.
Our partners:
Created in 1980 following the first Nunavik Elders' Conference, the Avataq Cultural Institute was and is mandated to protect and promote the Inuktitut language and culture of the Nunavimmiut (Inuit of Nunavik). The organization aims to preserve, document, disseminate and promote works of art, documentary archives, Nunavik archaeological collections and material culture for the benefit of present and future generations of Nunavik.
Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš is a cultural centre with a gallery, publishing program, digital laboratory and artist residency programme. It is located in Karasjok, which is also the parliamentary seat of the Northern Sámis, as well as the Sámi Museum, the Sámi Broadcasting Company and Davvi Girji, the largest Sámi-language publishing house.
This project is supported by the Conseil des arts de Montréal through the programme Route d’art.
GALLERY HOURS FOR THIS EXHIBITION
| DAY OF THE WEEK | HOURS |
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 12 - 6 PM |
| Wednesday | 12 - 6 PM |
| Thursday | 12 - 7 PM |
| Friday | 12 - 6 PM |
| Saturday | CLOSED |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
