Ruairi Smith

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

MA Project - Restricted Access (SIA Only) - With Distinction

Project Type

MA Project - Curatorial Proposal

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Art Business

First Advisor

Leo Krakowsky

Second Advisor

Agnes Berecz

Abstract

Steeped in Home: The Art of Inuit Domestic Life, a curatorial proposal, foregrounds multidisciplinary domestic and still life scenes by contemporary Inuit artists. Across generations, these artists depict gestures of pouring, stirring, sewing, teaching, and gathering—acts that reveal domestic life as a site of endurance, imagination, and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, “that which Inuit have always known to be true.” The exhibition builds on scholarship by Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Dr. Sherry Farrell Racette, and emerging Inuit researchers who have emphasized art as a living archive and the “kitchen table” as a place of knowledge, debate, and community. At the same time, Steeped in Home critically engages the complex legacies of the Kinngait Co-op system, colonial resettlement, and southern art markets that have shaped the circulation and interpretation of Inuit art for decades in Canada. Co-curated with an Inuk curator and presented in partnership with Feheley Fine Arts, the Inuit Art Quarterly, and community collaborators, Steeped in Home asserts that understanding Inuit art requires understanding Inuit life on Inuit terms. By amplifying scenes of home—tender, ordinary, and complex—the exhibition reveals domestic space as a foundation of cultural continuity, self-determination, and future-making across the North of Canada.  Designed with the potential to be realized in the near future, the project is grounded in what is achievable and draws on the leadership, expertise, and institutional support of those who have long championed Inuit art.

Distinction

1

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