Sámi art show scuttled

An exhibition of Sámi and Inuit art, jointly organized by Norway and Canada, was to open this week at the University of Toronto Art Centre — at the same time as a state visit by Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja to Canada.

Their visit to Canada commemorates the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Norway and coincides with the opening of an exhibition on Vikings at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

The Norwegian ambassador to Canada, Ingvard Havnen, had asked Pat Feheley of Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto to organize an art exhibit.

But sources in the art world say Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps threatened to hold back federal funding from the show unless it relocated to Hamilton, her home town. Eventually, plans for the art show were abandoned.

According to Feheley, there is still great interest in having a similar exhibition that would feature well-known Sámi and Inuit artists open in Toronto, travel to Iqaluit and then on to Norway.