Want to see some more Inuit art? There is so much amazing work in museums and art galleries right now!
Museums and galleries often create special exhibits. Here are some new and/or temporary exhibits featuring Inuit art that are happening now or coming up in the next few months. Check our Resources page for a list of other galleries that have permanent collections of Inuit art on display.
If you know of a new or special exhibit that would be of interest to our members, please contact the webmaster at
Current Exhibits
At the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto: Bill Nasogaluak carvings (thru ??) and Surusilutu Ashoona prints (thru Oct 29)
The AGO has an extensive collection of Inuit art, with more than 5,000 pieces in their collection. That means you’ll always find something good on display in long-term exhibits. But there is also usually a special exhibit (or two) that features a particular artist or theme. Currently, there are two.
Bill Nasogaluak carvings
“Born in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT in 1953, Bill Nasogaluak grew up during a time when traditional Inuit life was colliding with Southern culture. This collision informs the materials and tools he uses, as well as the content of his work. With an unwavering clearsightedness, he expresses the pain and consequences of colonialism in the North, addressing suicide, alcoholism in extraction industry workers, and the devastation of climate change for Inuit and the animals that surround them.
Nasogaluak’s carvings also materialize spiritual and cultural aspects from Inuvialuit ways of being; his hope is to inspire the next generations to keep Inuit culture central to who they are. He follows the stone and the stories wherever they want to take him. “
Check the AGO website for more information on the Bill Nasogaluak exhibit.
Surusilutu Ashoona prints
“In her irreverent prints and drawings, Kinngait artist Surusilutu Ashoona (1941-2011) illustrates a world both fantastical and banal, where animals wear clothing while women sew, juggle and rest in equal measure. Featuring 17 works from the AGO’s foundational Inuit art collections . . . . this exhibition marks the late artists’ first ever solo exhibition at the AGO.”
Check the AGO website for more information on the Surusiluto Ashoona exhibit.
At the Eiteljorg in Indianapolis: “Voices from the Arctic – Contemporary Inuit Art” (thru March 2026)
Voices from the Arctic: Contemporary Inuit Art at the Eiteljorg will include sculptures, prints, and drawings from the 1960s to today. If you are attending our annual meeting (and if you are reading this, you should attend!), you will have a chance to see this exhibit on your own and on a walk through with curator Dorene Red Cloud.
“Through this collection, visitors will experience the evolution of Inuit art, from traditional depictions of hunting, dogsledding, and spiritual narratives to contemporary reflections on technology, changing lifestyles, and the pressing impacts of climate change. These works not only celebrate the ingenuity and resilience of Inuit artists but also shed light on their intimate connection to the land and their role as witnesses to the dramatic environmental changes affecting not only the Arctic, but the world.”
IAS members Lou Jungheim and Thalia Nicas helped make this exhibit happen and have pieces from their wonderful collection included in the exhibit. In addition, Richard Mohr will be giving a lecture later in the year, and there may well be involvement by other members during the course of this exhibit.
Basic information on this exhibit is currently available on the Eiteljorg website. For a deeper dive into the exhibit, watch Lou Jungheim’s talk recorded at the museum. And join us there in September!
At the McMichael in Toronto: “Worlds on Paper – Drawings from Kinngait” and “Dreaming Forward: Contemporary Drawings from Kinngait” (thu August 24, 2025)
The McMichael always has some Inuit art on display, but right now they have a stunning exhibit drawn from the archives of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in Kinngait (Cape Dorset). This is accompanied by a smaller show featuring current work from Kinngait. Combined, the two shows offer a fascinating look at the range of work produced and how it has varied over time. See more on both exhibits on our website.
“Worlds on Paper”
“This once-in-a-generation exhibition of more than 200 works will foreground the cultural continuities of life in Kinngait in the face of dramatic societal change over more than five decades. . . . It will reveal overlooked bodies of work by some of the country’s most beloved artists including Kenojuak Ashevak, Pitseolak Ashoona, Kananginak Pootoogook, and Pudlo Pudlat as well as introduce audiences to hitherto unknown artists whose work was suppressed by the aims of the print program that prioritized the tastes of settler markets in the South.”
This is a truly stunning exhibit that offers a rare chance to see images that didn’t make it into the print collection, some by noted artists and some by artists most will be unfamiliar with. I guaranteed you’ll regularly say to yourself: “The co-op didn’t think that was worth printing?!”
Only the musk ox portion was selected for the 1963 print collection.
There are a lot of strange spirits in the exhibit, especially in the earliest drawings.
The galleries seem to go on and on and on, but each has a different focus and more wonderful work.
A lot of that work is more personal than what showed up in print collections. A fun section of the exhibit highlights drawings the artists made of themselves with their work or of other artists at work.
Check the McMichael’s website for more information on Worlds on Paper.
“Dreaming Forward”
Dreaming Forward is a (much smaller) companion exhibit to Worlds on Paper that reflects on what remains the same and what has changed in recent decades. It includes 23 pieces by artists who offer their own visions of their community as it – and the art created there – continues to evolve.
This exhibit has a very personal feel, with many images offering a glimpse into the artists’ lives and memories. One example is this image by Annie Pootoogook as a child with a teddy bear in her parka hood with her mother Napachie Pootoogook and grandmother Pitseolak Ashoona, both of whom were also well-respected artists.
Dreaming Forward: Contemporary Drawings from Kinngait will be on exhibit through August 24.
At the Ottawa Art Gallery: “Normee Ekoomiak” and “Printmaking in Nunavik” (thru August 24)
Two wonderful shows at a gallery that wasn’t on my radar before.
Textiles and more by Normee Ekoomiak
A gorgeous exhibit of textiles, paintings, and drawings by Normee Ekoomiak fills most of the upper galleries at the OAG.
Although there are drawings and painting in the exhibit, most of the space is given over to Ekoomiak’s beautiful textile work. And with good reason.
Along with the textiles, the gallery displays a reproduction of a 90-foot long hand-drawn scroll by Ekoomiak filled with images from his childhood.
A wrap-around display and a flat viewing table let visitors examine all 90 feet of Ekoomiak’s drawing.
Revival: Printmaking in Nunavik
From IAQ: This is a travelling exhibition that showcases the resurgence of linocut printmaking in Nunavik in recent years, following a series of workshops held in the region. The show features the work of 27 artists from across Nunavik, including Passa Mangiuk, Mary Paningajak and Leah Qumaaluk, whose works depict everything from the telling of legends, customs of the past, artistic renditions of Inuit objects, and everyday observations.
A nice selection of prints in both traditional and less traditional styles.
If, like me, you are unfamiliar with the OAG, check the their website for more information on these and other exhibits at this bit of a hidden gem in Ottawa.
At the WAG-Qaumajuq in Winnipeg: A 50-Year Retrospective of Abraham Anghik Ruben’s Visionary Art (thru May 31, 2026)
A massive exhibit of Abraham Anghik Ruben’s work fills the massive 8,000 square foot main gallery in Qaumajuq until next spring. That gives you plenty of time to get up to Winnipeg to see this stunning exhibit.
“Abraham Anghik Ruben was born in 1951 and spent his early years on the lands north of Paulatuk and east of the Mackenzie Delta, in the Canadian Western Arctic. His family engaged in the seasonal cycle of hunting, fishing and trapping, and his recollections of early childhood are filled with memories of the land and his extended family. Life on the land ceased at the age of eight when he was sent to residential school in Inuvik. He made the decision to become a full-time artist in 1975. In 1986, he made the decision to move to Salt Spring Island, where he carves in an outside studio year round.”
The exhibition highlights important personal milestones in Ruben’s life and his deep interest in Inuit/Viking history.
The exhibit was curated by Heather Campbell.
Check the WAG/Qaumajuq website for more information.
Upcoming exhibitions
At the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto: “New Acquisitions – Selections from the Dr. Ronald M. Haynes Collection” – Part 2 (Opening November 2025)
Featuring 22 works by 16 Inuit artists, including works on paper by renowned artists Pitseolak Ashoona, Jessie Oonark, and Pudlo Pudlat, as well as small soapstone sculptures by Mathew Aqigaaq, George Arluk, Seepee Ippellie, and Nootaraloo. Check the AGO website for more information.
