2022 Arctic Arts Summit to be hosted in the Yukon

Ottawa, July 13, 2021 — The Government of Yukon and the Canada Council for the Arts will co-host the Arctic Arts Summit in Yukon in June 2022.

Bringing together representatives of the Indigenous nations and Arctic countries in the circumpolar region, the overarching purpose of the Arctic Arts Summit is to explore and advance the perspectives, stories, and cultures of the North. The summit will be a forum to stimulate an ongoing, sustainable collaboration in the arts and creative industries throughout the region.

The Yukon government and the Canada Council for the Arts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), outlining the roles to jointly administer, coordinate, and host the summit, which will be for the North, by the North, with strong Indigenous content and participation.

The 2022 Arctic Arts Summit will focus on:

• Improving understanding, engagement and support for northern artists, organizations, and communities;
• Advancing international collaboration around the arts and cultures of the peoples of the circumpolar Arctic region;
• Advancing discourses on Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and cultural integrity in Canada and internationally, specifically as it relates to Indigenous peoples of the Arctic; and
• Strengthening relationships between the Canada Council for the Arts, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and other Northern regions of Canada.

In addition to the in-person Summit, a digital platform will be created to broaden the reach of the Summit’s programming by inviting more voices into the conversation and providing a space to showcase more work from the circumpolar North. This platform will also be the hub for a series of events in the year leading up to the summit itself.

More details including upcoming events will be announced in the Fall of 2021.

About The Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. The Council champions and invests in artistic excellence through a broad range of grants, services, prizes and payments to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations. Its work ensures that excellent, vibrant and diverse art and literature engages Canadians, enriches their communities and reaches markets around the world. The Council also raises public awareness and appreciation of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities.

Quick facts

• The Arctic Arts Summit will take place June 27-29, 2022.
• The Arctic Art Summit is an event that brings together artists, and those involved in cultural fields from Arctic countries to strengthen the northern art community and create infrastructures and partnerships for circumpolar arts to develop.
• This will be the third Arctic Arts Summit. The first was held in 2017 in Harstad, Norway. The second summit was held in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2019.
• This is the first time it will be hosted in Canada.
• The Summit was initially scheduled for June 2021, but was rescheduled due to COVID-19.