Kablusiak
/ Akunnirun Kuupak

This exhibition of photographs quintessentially shows Kablusiaks use of humour as a coping mechanism to address cultural displacement.

Kablusiak is an Inuvialuk artist and curator based in Mohkinstsis and holds a BFA in Drawing from the Alberta University of the Arts.  Awards include the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Young Artist Prize (2017), Primary Colours Emerging Artist Award (2018) and most notably the 2019 Sobey Art Award short list, representing the Prairies and the North.   A multi-disciplinary artist, they imbue a variety of mediums with their trademark ironic humour to address cultural displacement. The light-hearted nature of their practice extends gestures of empathy and solidarity; these interests invite a reconsideration of the perceptions of contemporary Indigeneity. Kablusiak, along with three Inuit curators, will be creating the inaugural exhibition of the new Inuit Art Centre in 2020. Recent exhibitions include akunnirun kuupak at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Among All These Tundras, Leonard & Bina Art Gallery, Montreal, and Qiniqtuaq at the Esker Foundation, Calgary.  Kablusiak’s work can be found in the collections of the Indigenous Art Centre, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and numerous other private collections.