2021 Sobey Art Award-winner Laakkuluk speaks about her exhibition on view at the AGO, Naak silavit qeqqa?

On July 16, 2022, acclaimed Kalaaleq (Greenlandic Inuk) artist – and winner of the 2021 Sobey Award – ᓛᒃᑯᓗᒃ Laakkuluk unveiled her brand new multimedia installation, Naak silavit qeqqa?, which incorporates video, soundscape and sculpture. The installation seeks to describe sila, the all-powerful Inuktitut word that captures the universe, the environment and the intellect. At the heart of the installation is Silaup Putunga (2018) – a large-scale double-sided video, created by Laakkuluk and her long-time collaborator Jamie Griffiths. Additionally, the installation includes a selection of Inuit soapstone sculptures from the AGO’s Williamson Collection, donated by Laakkuluk’s parents – Dr. Robert G. Williamson, O.C. and his wife, Dr. Karla Jessen Williamson.

We recently connected with Laakkuluk to learn more about the concept of sila, the Williamson Collection, and her collaborative work with Griffiths. 

AGOinsider: Could you share with us what the concept of sila means, and how it directly relates to the installation?

Laakkuluk: The name of the exhibition is Naak silavit qeqqa? It’s a riddle that children are asked. My mom was always very enthralled by that. She’s passed it down the generations. It asks, ‘Where’s the middle of your sila’? And sila has this multifaceted meaning. It means your intellect, it means the environment, it means the universe, it means outside. As a child when we’re asked where’s the middle of your sila is, it’s very confusing. And of course, there’s no right answer – but you have to think about it like, ‘Where do I point’? My reaction as a kid was to point between my eyes. But when we asked my kids – when they were little – they’d either do the same thing, or they point out the window.

AGOinsider: And does the installation seek to answer that question? (Where is the middle of your sila?)

Laakkuluk: No, it seeks to ask you as a visitor. There’s the piece in the middle, the film installation is Silaup Putunga, the hole in Sila. It’s an exploration of the layers of reality that you touch upon – or that I touch upon – as a uaajeerneq performer or a mask dancer. All the layers of mask to get to my face, and what’s on my face, and also what it means to be expressing my identity as a human being on the land. And just being able to pierce through realities like that.

Read the full article, in this week’s AGOinsider.