Kinngait artist Ning Ashoona’s carving, titled ‘Computer Desk,’ is among 72 purchased by the Canada Council for the Arts as part of its 50th anniversary celebration for its Art Bank. (Image courtesy of Dorset Fine Arts/La Guilde)
Kinngait artist’s work among 72 purchased for Art Bank
Carver, sculptor Ning Ashoona’s art was among 1,748 total pieces submitted for consideration
Updated on Jan. 31 at 12 p.m. ET.
Kinngait artist Ning Ashoona’s work is among the 72 pieces purchased recently by the Canada Council for the Arts.
The works were acquired as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of its Art Bank, which offers public access to Canadian art through rentals, loans to museums and outreach projects.
The council announced the acquisitions Jan. 18 in a news release.
Ashoona’s carving, titled Computer Desk, was among those selected from the 1,748 submissions the Art Bank received in response to its call for purchases, according to the release.
The works include paintings, fine crafts, sculptures, photography, drawings and mixed media pieces.
Ashoona’s piece was acquired alongside pieces from several other Inuit artists and northern artists, including Siku Allooloo, Eldred Allen, Maureen Gruben, Kablusiak, Levi MacDonald, Annie Pillaktuaq, Jessica Winters and Krystle Silverfox.
The total cost to purchase the collection was $600,000.
Priority was given to artists who self-identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, deaf or having a disability, from official language minority communities, youth, LGBTQ, gender-diverse and women, according to the news release.
“A purchase of this scale means a greater number of artists are given a unique opportunity to build connections and spark meaningful conversations in new settings,” said Amy Jenkins, head of the Art Bank, in the release.
This was the first open call for Art Bank purchases since 2011 when it purchased 52 new works by Canadian artists, according to an August 2022 announcement from the council.
Clarification: The Canada Council for the Arts identifies Ning Ashoona’s home community as Cape Dorset. Nunatsiaq News has updated this story to refer to the community by its official name, which is Kinngait.
Didn’t they officially change the name to Kinggait now?
“Priority was given to artists who self-identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, deaf or having a disability, from official language minority communities, youth, LGBTQ, gender-diverse and women, according to the news release.”
Stay woke
In the mangled language of Newspeak they call this inclusivity, yet it is plain to see that it is an exclusive club.
In Woke culture hierarchy is sorted by ‘identification’ with traditionally oppressed tribes. The identities above represent an attempt to confederate these while rolling back liberal ideals of equality; illegitimate, they believe, as they fail to produce equal outcomes (why they are accused of cultural Marxism by their critics).
They replace equality with ‘equity,’ in the superficial and nominal pursuit of ‘equal’ outcomes while their serious efforts are aimed at restructuring hierarchies of power in their favour. Equity sanctifies discrimination based on the belief that it is the antidote to racism. Note the words of their prophet, Ibram Kendi;
“The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
Discrimination is back, it seems, and more fashionable than ever,
Or perhaps more accurately, “the Jacobins are back” (to quote Alexander Bard)… fomenting a culture built on resentment that will eventually destroy itself.
More like, No Moniker is back! Burnin down the house!
Nunatsiaq, please stop calling Kinngait, Cape Dorset.