Written Submission to Special Senate Committee on the Arctic by Stephen Borys, Phd, MBA, Director & CEO, Winnipeg Art Gallery November 2018
Written submission to Special Senate Committee on the Arctic by Stephen Borys, PhD, MBA, Director & CEO, Winnipeg Art Gallery November 2018 The Inuit Art Centre project at the Winnipeg Art Gallery As we build the new Inuit Art Centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, I am constantly thinking about – and rethinking – the idea of the museum; not just what it looks like, but how it functions, communicates, and what and who it stands for today. The Winnipeg Art Gallery houses the world’s largest collection of contemporary Inuit art with close to 14,000 carvings, drawings, prints, textiles, and new media. In addition, the Government of Nunavut has placed on long-term loan their entire fine art collection comprising almost 8,000 works. The WAG began collecting Inuit art in the 1950s when this art form was largely unknown in Canada’s south. Supported by an unparalleled record of exhibitions, publications, research, and outreach, this collection represents Inuit identity, culture, and history – and it lies at the heart of the Inuit Art Centre journey. To celebrate the art and to honour the people who have created these Inuit works, the WAG is building an Inuit Art Centre, the first of its kind in the world. This new 40,000 square foot structure, adjacent and connected to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, will be a centre for exhibitions and programs, research and learning, studio practice and artmaking. It will be a bridge, enabling peoples from the North and South to meet, learn, and work together. It will be a gathering place— a community hub for exploration and advancement—with the art serving as a lens on Canada’s Arctic.
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