Art Gallery of Guelph: Getting Under Our Skin

May 10 – September 5, 2018

Inspired by Inuk filmmaker Alethea Anarquq-Baril’s award-winning documentary Angry Inuk, this exhibition is grounded in intergenerational art and activism that speaks to the central role of the seal and seal hunting within Inuit culture and society. Considered a critically important Indigenous right to Inuit communities and essential to sustainability, the practice has been dramatically impacted by international bans and protests since the 1980s that have failed to engage the Inuit themselves. As Anarquq-Baril’s film shows, these campaigns have long used misinformation, images of the clubbing of baby seals, for example, a method long banned and never practiced by the Inuit.

Bringing together contemporary works as well as artworks from the AGG’s permanent collections, Getting Under Our Skin highlights the primacy of lived traditions and their transformation in visual culture as acts of resistance and resilience. Key to the exhibition are the voices, ideas, and actions of an emerging generation of Inuit, including youth living in Guelph and students from Ottawa’s Nunavut Sivuniksavut college program who recently staged a Pro Seal Hunt Rally on Parliament Hill (March 28, 2018) – a hybrid fashion show, dance performance, and protest, documented by Katherine Takpannie.

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Bringing together contemporary works as well as artworks from the AGG’s permanent collections, Getting Under Our Skin highlights the primacy of lived traditions and their transformation in visual culture as acts of...