UNGASITTUQ – SOMETHING THAT IS FAR AWAY (2021)

October 7 – December 23 2021
University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries

Ungasittuq – Something That is Far Away
A project by Barry Pottle

Ungasittuq is an exploration of distance, space, acceptance and pushing boundaries. This project aims to build a foundation for contemporary urban Inuit art photography within the broader popular understanding of contemporary Inuit art; a new canon so to speak. By placing artwork from UVic’s Inuit art collection alongside my own photographs of contemporary urban Inuit life my aim is to call into question the ways that art museums and galleries typically present contemporary Inuit art and culture.

At the time I started my art practice, the concept of Urban Inuit and art was relatively new and unexplored compared to other Indigenous groups in Canada. The camera allows me to explore connection and continuity with my heritage and culture especially with regard to the contemporary reality of being an Urban Inuk. The term “Urban Inuit” might conjure up the notion that Inuit living in urban centres lose or give up both their identities and connections to their homeland or regions, when in essence Urban Inuit can be ambassadors for their homes, regions and the Arctic and deserve the respect afforded to all Inuit regardless of where they are located.

As the title suggests, my art may be thought of by some as Ungasittuq – something that is far away- from the conventions of “authentic” Inuit art. My aim for this project is for institutions to tear down your walls by giving space and voice for Inuit art photography so that the medium, subject matter, and urban Inuit experience does not seem so far away anymore. I want my work to be both a counterpoint and complement to Inuit artwork that is more often exhibited and marketed in the south. With this project I want to create a broader understanding of contemporary realities.

-Barry Pottle, artist and curator

UVIC website

Being Urban Inuk

I was born in Nunatsiavut, Labrador and now live in Ottawa. The Inuit community in Ottawa is quite large. Population estimates vary from 4,000 to as many as 6,000 people in that city alone. About 30% of Inuit in Canada live outside Inuit Nunangat, the homeland of Inuit in Canada which includes four northern Canadian regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik in Northern Quebec and Nunatsiavut (in Labrador).

It is important to note that Inuit move south for a variety of reasons, most often out of necessity rather than choice. Inuit people move for employment, medical and educational opportunities and often move with a spouse and family. But moving south has not always been for positive reasons. Given the history of colonialism and assimilation in Canada, there is a very real and unsettling history of Inuit being forced to relocate for medical reasons including TB treatment, to attend residential schools.

The urban Inuit community in Ottawa has a long history of involvement, growth, relationships, activism, cultural and political interaction with the settler population. Over the years, the city of Ottawa has become both a model and community that other urban Inuit look to for inspiration, support and community as all Inuit in urban centres strive to carve out a living and community in southern Canada.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO VIEW LARGER

Client : LEORE