National Gallery of Canada Hires Inuk Associate Curator
Jocelyn Piirainen (from the artist courtesy Inuit Art Quarterly)
The National Gallery of Canada has hired an Inuk associate curator for its Indigenous ways and decolonization department, the Inuit Art Quarterly reports.
It says Jocelyn Piirainen, from Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay) in Nunavut, will move to Ottawa from Winnipeg, where she has been working since 2019 as associate curator of Inuit art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq.
"A good portion of Piirainen’s work will happen behind the scenes, helping to bring changes to procedures and policies around NGC’s acquisitions and collection," the journal said in an article published Nov. 21, three days after the gallery dismissed Greg Hill, the senior Indigenous curator, along with three other senior staff, including chief curator and deputy director Kitty Scott. "Piirainen will also assist in upcoming exhibitions, including preparation for the next instalment of the international show Àbadakone, which is set for 2025."
Piirainen is an artist and filmmaker who earned a bachelor's degree in arts with a major in film studies from Carleton University in Ottawa. Her writing has been featured in Canadian Art, Canadian Geographic and the Inuit Art Quarterly. Her previous curatorial work includes the 2018 exhibition Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
Source: Inuit Art Quarterly
