Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory accepts the 2021 Sobey Art Award at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of Sobey Art Award/Twitter)
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory wins Sobey Art Award
Inuk artist takes $100,000 top prize in award for Canadian emerging artists
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, an Inuk artist based in Iqaluit, is the winner of the 2021 Sobey Art Award and its $100,000 prize.
The winner of the annual award for emerging artists in Canada was announced at a gala event at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa Saturday night.
“Williamson Bathory’s performance practice courageously defies preconceived notions through embodied lived experience,” the award’s jury said in a news release issued by the National Gallery of Canada announcing the results.
“Her works invite us to share in a world abundant with possibility infused with the interconnections of land, family, community and cultural knowledge. “
Williamson Bathory was one of five artists who made the shortlist for the award earlier this year, which is funded by the Sobey Art Foundation.
Williamsom Bathory told Nunatsiaq News in an interview last week she was “humbled” at being included among the five finalists and that honour was “something I never imagined that I would be a part of.”
Much of Williamson Bathory’s multimedia art is inspired by her Greenlandic Inuit culture. Notably, her installation piece “Nannuppugut!” which translates to, “We’ve killed a polar bear!” is made from the hide of a polar bear she hunted at a cabin in Nunavut. That piece is on display until February at the National Gallery of Canada.
The four other finalists — Lorna Bauer, Rémi Belliveau, Gabi Dao, and Rajni Perera — each receive $25,000 from the award foundation, the release states.
Congratulations Laakkuluk!!! I think that performance artists who produce a reaction in the audience are impressive. I have seen you frighten-horrify-amuse-awe your audition every time I’ve seen you perform.