With $1 million in funding, Qaggiavuut Arts Society dreams big

After years of making do with less, Nunavut's Qaggiavuut Arts Society has $1 million to spend and big plans for arts in the territory.

"Up until now we've only been able to exist on a project to project basis," saysLaakkuluk Williamson Bathory, the chair ofQaggiavuut'sboard of directors."Now we can make some of those dreams take shape."

• $1.5M Arctic Inspiration Prize split among 3 finalists
• PROFILE IQanurli, Nunavut's Inuktitut TV show, travels to other Inuit regions

In January, Qaggiavuutwas one of three groupsawarded the $1.5 million Arctic Inspiration Prize, receiving$600,000 for projects to connect circumpolar artists by creating collaborations and teaching opportunities.

The group also received funds from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government ofNunavut,bringing the total amount to$1 million over the next few years.

Last week, Qaggiavuut hosted a summit and artistic collaboration in Iqaluit, gathering 50 Inuit artists from across the country to attend workshops and discussion groups as well as stagea performance ofKiviuq Returns, a multimedia production about the fight of good versus evil.

The summit was also an opportunity for the society to gather input on what Inuit artists want to accomplish with the new funds.

'Space, space, space'

The society's name is a derivative of 'Qaggiq,' anInuktitut word thatmeans a giant iglu built for a performance. 'Qaggiavuut'translates to the call to enter the Qaggiqwhen it isready.

That name may prove prophetic, as the society's vice-chair said creating performing arts space was the main issue raised by artists in the summit.

"Space, space, space," saysVinnie Karetak."Not only centralized space for a giant performing arts centre, but space in their own home communities."

However, creating physical space may not be within the funding's purview. Williamson Bathory says that the funding "isn't for bricks and mortar.

"That's fine," she added, "because you can't have physical spaces without the programming to go inside them."

Though a major performing arts centre remains in the society's longer-term plans, Williamson Bathory says that the group is focused on developing programming for the territory. That, in turn, "gives us leverage to build the actual... centre," she said.

The group is also working on doing a feasibility study on the potential centre, focused on the needs of Arctic artists andpossible economic benefits.

Post-secondary performing arts program

One of Qaggiavuut's main goals is to help artists across the Arctic find ways to share their skills with others in their community, particularly children and youth.

"There's an awful lot of artistic people in the Arctic pushed into mining industry or construction work sitting behind the wheel thinking artistic things," said Williamson Bathory."Not every one of these artistic people have teaching skills."

To address this, Qaggiavuuthopes to work with localartists to improve their teaching skills andpartner with community schools, giving them the space to offerworkshops and classes.

However, Williamson Bathory has grander plans for teaching arts in Nunavut: a full-fledged university program.

"Wouldn't it be amazing to have a certificate, diploma, a bachelor's program in Arctic performing arts?" she said.

The group is hoping to develop a program that would not only focus on performance, but also technical aspects of the arts such as camera work andlighting, as well asbusiness skills. According to Karetak, Qaggiavuut is in communication with groups like The National Theatre School, who could serve as potential partners.

'We don't own our own stories unless we tell them ourselves'

Despite having more cash that usual in their coffers, Qaggiavuut is, at its core, about fostering and promoting the arts in the territory something that Karetaksays plays an important role in addressing social issues such as language preservation and healing.

"For us the arts have been very underutilized for such a long time," saysKaretak.

"It's not just art for art's sake, it's also that arts have so much healing power," said WilliamsonBathory, adding that arts can provide an avenue to deal with the legacy of colonialism in Nunavut.

"We don't own our own stories unless we tell them ourselves," she said,quoting a line from a poem she wrote.

Williamson Bathory also cited language preservation as a potential avenue for arts to engage with young Nunavut residents.

"Linguistic preservation here in Nunavut at the government level is mechanical," she said."It's all about translation.That's not exciting for young people.

"What's exciting is having that bubbly feeling in their chest when they see something or hear something in that language that makes them want to emulate it."