Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past September I attended a number of events during NWT Arts Week here in Yellowknife. I have to say there were a lot of great events and a lot of great presentations.
As Northerners, I think we should be proud of the musicians, and the painters, and the authors, and the actors, and the craftspeople, and the carvers of the Northwest Territories. Quite frankly, the quality, and quantity, and diversity of the products that are out there are amazing. It’s simply amazing.
During the last week, a number of working sessions were facilitated by the Aurora Arts Society to discuss issues that are important to local and territorial artists.
One of the topics that was discussed at some of these focus group meetings was the need for artists to have their own work displayed in a curated show.
A curated show is usually one where a collection of items such as paintings are pulled together by professional bodies who are interested in displaying a certain style of body of work to highlight the cultural and/or historic significance or value. The body of work is usually researched and its significance is outlined as part of the presentation of the collection. This is not something done by a retail outfit; this is usually something done by a museum or professional fine arts gallery or curator.
There are significant advantages to both an artist that’s being displayed in the collection and the Northwest Territories as a whole, if curated shows were to be facilitated.
For example, although not a curated show, the Northern House was the closest thing that this government has done to facilitate a curated show for NWT artists. The benefits were obvious to the artists who received significant exposure. In addition, they were also significant to the NWT, as the interest in the arts and cultural activities were significant, resulting in high levels of attendance at the Northern House. This should translate over time into a greater number of visitors into the Northwest Territories.
Unfortunately, the GNWT does not currently facilitate any curated shows here in the Northwest Territories. There is significant mutually beneficial opportunity here that this government should be taking advantage of. If this government were to facilitate some local curated shows, they could be circulated through a number of NWT communities. This would demonstrate the talent levels of the NWT and hopefully encourage more residents to participate. Further, the same curated shows could be sent to southern institutions, creating future interest in the Northwest Territories.
For the artists themselves, there are significant advantages. For example, currently the majority of NWT artists that are able to apply aren’t able to apply for support from Canada Council.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Currently the majority of NWT artists are unable to apply for support from Canada Council. One of the primary criteria for them is that an individual must have been involved in a curated show. By supporting curated shows here in the Northwest Territories, we are opening our local artists to significant opportunities on a national level through the Canada Council sponsored shows, training opportunities and international events. These, by default, increase the national and international awareness of the Northwest Territories, which is good for tourism. Support of our artists is a win-win scenario.
I’ll be asking the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment some questions on this topic later today.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
