JESSE TUNGILIK
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
18 February – May 3, 2019
Presented by The Initiative for Indigenous Futures, the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership SSHRC, the Milieux Insititute and Concordia University's Faculty of Fine Arts as a Concordia In-Residence Appointment.
Jesse Tungilik is an interdisciplinary artist based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He has worked in many artistic disciplines, starting as a ceramicist at the Matchbox Gallery in Rankin Inlet (beginning at just eight years old, and continuing into adulthood) before working in Mathew Nuqingaq’s Aayuraa Studio in Iqaluit as a jewelry artist specializing in baleen, muskox horn, ivory and silver. Tungilik also works in mixed-media sculpture, with pieces exhibited at the Nunavut Arts Festival, Great Northern Arts Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, and Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, among others; his work can be found in both public and private collections nationally and internationally, such as the Museum Cerny Inuit Collection in Bern, Switzerland. Tungilik has served as both a Manager of Cultural Industries for the Government of Nunavut and as the Executive Director of the Nunavut Art and Craft Association; he is currently the Chairperson for the Board of Trustees for Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum (in Iqaluit), and is a member of the Inuit governance group of the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership SSHRC Partnership Grant (2018-2025). Tungilik recently worked with the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Government of Nunavut to commission new artwork and select collections based work for installation in the new Iqaluit airport; he was one of two Artists in Residence for the 2018 TD North/South Artist Exchange, and will be included in the forthcoming inaugural exhibition of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre, opening in 2020.
Artist talk: Using Conceptual Sculpture to Bring Social Change
April 2, EV 6.735, 3-5 p.m.
Jesse Tungilik will discuss his artistic practice of creating conceptual art to draw attention to and explore contemporary issues that face Inuit in Canada. The social and political realities of the Inuit have changed dramatically in recent decades. Colonization, assimilation, forced relocation and forced transition from a semi-nomadic subsistence-hunting way of life to a sedentary wage-based existence in less than a century has helped to sow sociopolitical chaos in Inuit society. Drawing on his experiences developing policies and legislation in government as an arts administrator, and reconciling his memories of his late father who was an outspoken residential school survivor, as well as his own struggles with his cultural identity, Tungilik has created conceptual sculptures aimed at challenging preconceived notions of Inuit art and the prevailing notions of Inuit in contemporary Canada.
Residency schedule
- March 25, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Visit to the Canadian Space Agency with CEGEP Nunavik-sivunitsavut students.
- April 2, 4th Space, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Building a Seal Skin Spacesuit: Pattern making workshop. CEGEP Nunavik-sivunitsavut students at work with Jesse. Everyone welcome to visit, ask questions.
- April 2, EV 6.735, 3-5 p.m. Talk: "Using Conceptual Sculpture to Bring Social Change". Everyone welcome to attend.
- April 9, EV 2.776, Noon – 1 p.m.: Lunch-and-learn session for faculty on working with the north. Fine Arts faculty only.
- April 11–12, EV 11.425, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Making a Seal Skin Spacesuit: Sewing workshop. Jesse assembling the Space Suit with CEGEP Nunavik-sivunitsavut students. Everyone welcome to visit, ask questions.
- April 26, Art Hive EV 5.777, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Workshop on working with northern organic materials and jewelry construction. All Faculty of Fine Arts students or faculty welcome to register for this session.
- April 30, EV 11.705, 2 – 4 p.m. Exhibition. Show of finished work/reception. Everyone welcome to attend.
