Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last October I made a statement in this House and asked the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment a number of questions regarding the possibility of facilitating curated art and/or craft shows and exhibits here in the Northwest Territories. A curated show is usually one where a collection of items, such as paintings, are pulled together by a professional body who has an interest in displaying this certain body of work in order to highlight the cultural and historic value. The body of work is usually researched and its significance is outlined as part of the presentation of the collection as a whole. This is not something done by a retail outfit but, rather, a museum or fine art gallery.
The Minister at the time indicated that he would be willing to meet with representatives of the NWT arts community to discuss the option of curated shows and how they could benefit both territorial artists as well as the population as a whole. I put together a meeting between the past-president of the Aurora Arts Society on behalf of the territorial artists and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, his staff, as well as the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment and his staff, which took place in December. It was a very informative meeting with a lot of shared information and opinions.
Since that, I have had some follow-up conversations with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and have received correspondence from the Minister indicating that they would be working towards the delivery of curated shows highlighting the work of northern artists over the coming fiscal year and ongoing. This is great news for both the NWT artists as well as the population of the Northwest Territories. Highlighting our northern artists will both promote the artist as well as the North. In addition, once our artists have been presented officially in curated shows, great opportunities for Canadian Council funding will open up to them.
I understand that this may not happen immediately, that the department has to figure out the best ways to do it, the most cost-effective method to facilitate these shows and conduct research into the extent that they can be done and shared both in the North and the South. Regardless, I appreciate the Minister’s consideration on this topic and commitment to working with northern artists. I look forward to curated shows highlighting our northern artists and their great works.
I will be asking the Minister a couple of questions on this topic at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
