curated by Laura McGough

Opening Reception:
Friday, November 12, 2021

7 to 10 pm

Zoom interview with artists looping in the basement cinema during the opening reception.

Survivance: Arnait Video Productions is an exhibition and related screenings celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Igloolik, Nunavut-based women's media collective, Arnait Video Productions (AVP). The exhibition will include videos, installation, mixed media sculpture and fiber works spanning AVP's career. A series of screenings of AVP's feature films will also take place during the course of the exhibition.

Survivance: Arnait Video Productions will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Igloolik, Nunavut-based Inuit women's media collective, Arnait Video Productions (AVP). Gerald Vizenor's defines survivance as an active sense of presence, the continuance of native stories, not a mere reaction, or a survivable name. The exhibition will explore how AVP has utilized communication technologies to reconnect to lost traditions & give voice to contemporary issues of urgency, while also celebrating the range & depth of AVP's artistry.

AVP was formed in in 1991 by Madeline Ivalu, Susan Avingaq, Martha Makkar, Mathilda Hanniliaq & Marie-Hélène Cousineau. Their films & videos have focused on themes ranging from post-contact family life & the transmission of oral traditions to vital contemporary issues such as youth suicide, climate change & environmental destruction from mining. AVP has engaged a range of genres to depict Inuit life including historical reenactment, animation & mixed media artworks.

In 1992, Hallwalls became the first site to screen AVP's videos outside of Igloolik & also supported the editing/subtitling of Video Correspondence: Igloolik-Montreal-Montevideo. This video will be included in Survivance.

The exhibition will feature rarely-screened early videos by AVP, a video projection, Internet-based work, mixed media & fiber works and a genealogical drawing, which depicts the interlocking family trees of AVP members. This last work will be reproduced on the gallery walls.

Works to be exhibited:

• Video: Video Correspondence: Igloolik-Montreal-Montevideo (1992); Attagutaalak Starvation (1992); Qulliq (1993); Piujuk and Angutautuq (1994); Aqtuqsi (1996); Show me on the Map (2010); Igloolik 360 degrés (2012)
• Visual Art: Stone House, 1950s House, Present Day House (2011) + Unakuluk (2006)
• Drawing: Family Tree (2006)

www.arnaitvideo.ca

Some publications related to this event:
Survivance: 30 Years of Arnait Video Productions - 2021