
Tarralik Duffy, Hangama Amiri among artists shortlisted for Sobey Art Award
The Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada announced on Tuesday the short list for the $100,000 prize for contemporary visual art.
Duffy is known for work that centres contemporary Inuit culture, while Amiri uses paint on textiles to explore ideas about gender and social roles.
Also among the finalists are Tania Willard, a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes land-based art, and Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, who creates immersive audiovisual environments.
Rounding out the short list are multimedia artist Sandra Brewster and textile artist Swapnaa Tamhane.
The winner will be announced at an event on Nov. 8 and the six shortlisted artists will have their work displayed at the National Gallery from October through March.
The Sobey Art Award was created in 2002 with funding from the Sobey Art Foundation and has been jointly administered by the foundation and National Gallery of Canada since 2016.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
31-07-2025
- Washington Post
The National Gallery bought a student's work. It's a masterpiece.
Great Works, In Focus • #195 The National Gallery bought a student's work. It's a masterpiece. Pierre Louis Alexandre, a dockworker who modeled at the art academy on the side, appeared in painting after painting. Karin Bergöö Larsson's portrait of him broke with all the rest. Expand the image Click to zoom in Column by Sebastian Smee July 31, 2025 at 11:25 a.m. EDT 4 minutes ago 3 min So many things make this painting — a recent acquisition by the National Gallery of Art — stand out from those around it, but why not start with the colors? Appreciate the way in which the sitter's yellow sash zings against the fresh blue sky. His red and white striped shorts complete the arrangement of clean, bright primaries, while his black hair and brown skin, set against so large a swath of blue, deepen the color effect in ways Henri Matisse (with his instinctive understanding of black as a dynamic color) doubtless would have admired. The artist, Karin Bergöö Larsson (1859-1928), was Swedish. She was a student at Stockholm's Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts when she painted Pierre Louis Alexandre, a dockworker who had become a fixture at the academy, earning extra money as a model when the harbor froze over. Alexandre was born into slavery in Guyana in 1843 or 1844. Around the age of 20, he arrived in Sweden, most likely as a stowaway on an American ship. His long stint as an artist's model — he posed there for 25 years — produced many likenesses. Scholars think we may have more painted portrayals of Alexandre than of any other Black person before the 20th century. Larsson's portrayal of him combines pose and vantage point in striking ways. Alexandre looms above us in ways we usually associate with heroic depictions of men of high social stature. But his pose is informal and relaxed, his jackknifed leg exerting symmetrical pressure on his casually interwoven fingers and hands. His body is shown in profile, giving the image a linear, neoclassical crispness. But his head, with its powerful, pensive expression, is turned slightly toward us, even as it subtly recedes in relation to his muscular right arm, injecting something slightly tumultuous into an otherwise stable composition. Even though Alexandre was not in the least Moorish, other extant depictions of him show him bare-chested with turbans and swords, or standing, devious-eyed, before Islamic carpets. Aside from the sash at Alexandre's waist (perhaps suggesting a Moor's costume), Larsson avoids this kind of egregious orientalizing. She paints him with palpable freshness and a beautiful touch. Note the glistening oils on his neck lightening his skin where it twists, the nonchalantly captured texture of his hair, and the lines on his cheek where they meet his stubble. Larsson stopped painting when she married and started a family. She had met her husband, the Swedish designer and artist Carl Larsson, in 1882, at an artists' colony in the village of Grez-sur-Loing, near Paris. They had their first child in France before returning to Sweden, and when he asked her to end her painting career, she complied. She bore eight children in total (one died in infancy). Somehow, amid all the domestic labor, she found time to transform herself from a (clearly brilliant) painter into an innovative weaver, embroiderer and clothing designer, to collaborate with Larsson, and to pose for his paintings — just as Alexandre posed for her.


Hamilton Spectator
28-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Get Happy Summer Day Camp welcomes over 2,000 youth
The Recreation and Parks Association of Nunavut (RPAN) said it brought together over 2,000 children across 17 communities in the territory to participate in its signature youth initiative this summer. The Get Happy Summer Day Camp is taking place in six more communities than it did last year: Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Kinngait, Qikiqtarjuaq, Pangnirtung, and Sanirajak, according to Kerby Corcoran, RPAN's programs manager. Youth from five to 12 years old began attending the camps that started between June 20 and 30, depending on the community, and are expected to run six to eight weeks. Arts and crafts, cultural activities unique to each community, and weekly challenges are all a part of the campers' daily fun, Corcoran explained. To help guide those Nunavumiut children during the camp, 114 youth leaders were trained in mid-June. Two youth leaders in Iqaluit, Keira Qamaniq and Ayva-Lin Noah, said the camp has been tons of fun even with the additional participants. 'This year I feel like there's more kids than we've had in my past years,' Qamaniq, who's in her third year as a youth leader, said in a phone interview. Qamaniq and Noah's group is roughly 30 campers, and is only one of a handful in Iqaluit alone. Every week, campers have a different theme of Inuit culture to take part in. Iqaluit campers played Inuit games in the first week of July, and the second week will cover nature exploration, including picking flowers, berries, and everyone wearing green, Qamaniq and Noah explained. Both leaders are well prepared to manage the children, Noah said, praising RPAN's ability to prepare them for the summer job. 'There was first aid and CPR training, they were teaching us games to play with the kids like ice breakers or just games we could play when we had nothing else to do,' Noah said. More youth leaders were trained this year due to the increased number of communities taking part, which has more than tripled since the camp began operating 10 years ago. Training those youth leaders has a major payoff down the road, Corcoran said. 'When the kids see the youth leaders in the communities, they are going to be excited. The youth leaders essentially are becoming role models to the younger generation,' Corcoran said. Qamaniq and Noah said the best part of the camp for them was making friends with the campers and the coworkers, something Corcoran echoed. Making children smile and being a part of a team is probably the best part of running the Get HAPPY Summer Day Camp, according to Corcoran. 'We tell the recreation staff and youth leaders that it is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a long summer, but also provides the youth leaders with a rewarding experience,' Corcoran said. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .


Hamilton Spectator
25-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Aurora College and Indigenous Knowledge Holders release three-year framework
A framework for development of Aurora College's tricameral governance has been released as the institution continues its push to evolve into a polytechnic university. Officials made the announcement on July 7. 'The Indigenous Knowledge Holders Council (IKHC) is proud of the work that got us to this point,' said IKHC chair Deneze Nakehk'o. 'We believe this Flowing Waters Framework will guide us in our work, in our connections to our sacred surroundings, to each other and to learn about ourselves. 'We raise our hands to all the efforts of people that helped shape this pathway. We are honoured to continue our strong traditions but also to endeavour in the careful process of planning and visioning for the College and all the peoples walking their own educational pathways.' Under the three-year framework, the plan is to complete a virtual meet and greet between members of IKHC and staff of Aurora College, then to undergo a KAIROS blanket exercise with students and staff. A blanket exercise is a two to three-hour interactive workshop where participants stand on blankets and assume the role of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. They then read through a script guided by Elders and knowledge keepers to understand the phases of colonization from the people of Turtle Island's perspective. The exercises were developed following the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. KAIROS is an 'ecumenical movement for ecological justice and human rights' spearheaded by the United Church of Canada. After the blanket exercise is completed, the next step is to develop an options paper for Indigenous honourariums. All this is to be done before the end of the year. Come 2026, the goal will shift to developing safe and sacred spaces on each campus. Both safe spaces and special tipis are to be established at each of the four campuses with a review of and Indigenizing curriculum in 2027. This will include establishing Elders in residence programs to ensure traditional knowledge is integrated into lessons, as well as adopting the Elements of Indigenous Style as a style guide to stand beside the historical academic style guides. 'The establishment of the Indigenous Knowledge Holders Council aligns with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations and underlines Aurora College's commitment to incorporate Indigenous perspectives and values,' stated Aurora College president Dr. Angela James. 'And to foster an educational environment that respects Indigenous ways of life, knowledge, cultures, and worldviews.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .