Overview
Qillaniq accompanies the 2026 edition of the International exhibition of Indigenous art at the National Gallery of Canada. The title is based on the Inuktitut word describing the effect of light from the sun or the moon shimmering on water — appropriate for an exhibition and a publication focusing on the circumpolar world.
The art in Qillaniq is multi-vocal, multi-disciplinary, and improvisational; it’s inspired by Indigenous values of contributing to community in as many ways as possible. It’s also an expression of radical joy, an exploration of what the artists tell us is possible in our communities, of holding space for the people who change our world — despite not always fitting into the norms of colonizing institutions. Most of all, it celebrates those who share love as an answer to difficulty. Qillaniq — that shimmering, bright light — honours the circumpolar world’s badass artists who tell us all that our existence is enough.
Featuring essays by 24 contributors from the circumpolar world — Alaska, Inuit Nunangat, Kalaallit Nunaat, and Sápmi — and reproductions of work by nearly 70 artists from each of these territories, Qillaniq is a true celebration of the circumpolar North, not as the South might want it to be but as it is.
Qillaniq, ce bel ouvrage qui accompagne l’exposition international d’art autochtone présentée en 2026 au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, a pour titre le mot de la langue inuktitut qui désigne le miroitement des rayons du soleil ou de la lune sur l’eau. Pouvait-on mieux choisir, pour une exposition et un ouvrage qui célèbrent le monde circumpolaire?
Qillaniq nous offre un art polyphonique et multidisciplinaire, riche d’improvisations. Un art inspiré des valeurs autochtones qui privilégient l’apport au bien commun sous toutes les formes. Un art qui exprime une joie profonde, le message d’artistes qui voient tous les possibles dans nos communautés, qui fait place aux gens qui font évoluer notre monde en faisant fi des normes dictées par la colonisation. C’est, surtout, un art qui célèbre ceux et celles qui brandissent l’amour devant les écueils. Qillaniq – miroitement, lumière vive –, est un hymne aux artistes rebelles du monde circumpolaire qui nous disent, à tous, que notre existence suffit.
Mariage d’essais de 24 auteurs et d’œuvres d’environ 70 artistes du monde circumpolaire (Alaska, Inuit Nunangat, Kalaallit Nunaat et Sápmi), Qillaniq exalte un Nord circumpolaire authentique, qui ne cède pas aux injonctions du Sud.
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