BILLBOARD 208/
ummmmp
asinnajaq
May 30 – September 15, 2022
Curated by The Shell Projects
In asinnajaq’s words, ummmmp is an attestation of love for Inuit come and gone and still with us. It is an acknowledgment of life, love, and loss.
asinnajaq’s practice is led by a care and generosity towards images. The work presented at TNG in Calgary’s east village speaks to a sister work presented simultaneously in the window space of *Queenspecific in Toronto’s Queen West neighborhood. In their kindred visuals, the two pieces share the desire of memorialisation critical in remembrance. The high visibility and simultaneous temporariness of both exhibition spaces are important aspects to reflect upon in relation to how they are deployed vis-a-vis the marginalized realities of the unhoused across the country and the related realities of gentrification, housing exploitation, and barely existing social infrastructures. asinnajaq’s work overlays these interlinked social realities with a politics of care characterized by the intimacy, openness, and celebration necessary to caring for community.
—
asinnajaq is the daughter of Carol Rowan and Jobie Weetaluktuk. She is an urban Inuk from Inukjuak, Nunavik and lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). asinnajaq’s art practice spans many mediums from film to performance video, to curation and much in between. She co-created Tilliraniit, a three day festival celebrating Inuit art and artists. asinnajaq wrote and directed Three Thousand (2017) a short sci-fi documentary. She co-curated Isuma’s show in the ‘Canadian’ pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. She was long listed for the 2020 Sobey Art Award. She co-curated the inaugural exhibition INUA at the Qaumajuq. Asinnajaq’s work has been exhibited at art galleries and film festivals around the world.
The Shell Projects is a collaborative curatorial collective led by Maegan Broadhurst and Barbora Racevičiūtė. Initiated in 2017, shell showcases contemporary multi-media artistic practices. It focuses on cultivating relationships between emerging and mid-career practitioners, fostering dialogue between non-traditional art exhibition spaces, and in connecting locally-situated cultural discourses to international contemporary art movements.
asinnajaq’s practice is led by a care and generosity towards images. The work presented at TNG in Calgary’s east village speaks to a sister work presented simultaneously in the window space of *Queenspecific in Toronto’s Queen West neighborhood. In their kindred visuals, the two pieces share the desire of memorialisation critical in remembrance. The high visibility and simultaneous temporariness of both exhibition spaces are important aspects to reflect upon in relation to how they are deployed vis-a-vis the marginalized realities of the unhoused across the country and the related realities of gentrification, housing exploitation, and barely existing social infrastructures. asinnajaq’s work overlays these interlinked social realities with a politics of care characterized by the intimacy, openness, and celebration necessary to caring for community.
—
asinnajaq is the daughter of Carol Rowan and Jobie Weetaluktuk. She is an urban Inuk from Inukjuak, Nunavik and lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). asinnajaq’s art practice spans many mediums from film to performance video, to curation and much in between. She co-created Tilliraniit, a three day festival celebrating Inuit art and artists. asinnajaq wrote and directed Three Thousand (2017) a short sci-fi documentary. She co-curated Isuma’s show in the ‘Canadian’ pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. She was long listed for the 2020 Sobey Art Award. She co-curated the inaugural exhibition INUA at the Qaumajuq. Asinnajaq’s work has been exhibited at art galleries and film festivals around the world.
The Shell Projects is a collaborative curatorial collective led by Maegan Broadhurst and Barbora Racevičiūtė. Initiated in 2017, shell showcases contemporary multi-media artistic practices. It focuses on cultivating relationships between emerging and mid-career practitioners, fostering dialogue between non-traditional art exhibition spaces, and in connecting locally-situated cultural discourses to international contemporary art movements.
