Norberg Hall

Congratulations to 𝗞𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗞, whose work is included in 𝗤𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗤, opening this week at the National Gallery of Canada! ❤️


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Co-curated by an all-Indigenous team from across the circumpolar world, Qillaniq brings together more than 80 works by nearly 70 contemporary artists from Inuit Nunaat, Sápmi, Denendeh, Alaska, Greenland, and beyond. The exhibition celebrates Indigenous sovereignty, creativity, and connection across the North, presenting a powerful, multi-disciplinary vision of the circumpolar world through sculpture, installation, performance, video, and other contemporary practices. ⁣
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𝗤𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗤⁣
June 12 to September 20, 2026 ⁣
Members Preview: Thursday, June 11 ⁣
Exhibition opening celebration: June 11 at 5 p.m. ⁣
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Qillaniq (an Inuktitut word describing how light from the sun or the moon shimmers brightly when reflecting on water) — is co-curated by an all-Indigenous team from the circumpolar world.⁣
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The artworks celebrated in this exhibition are multi-vocal, multi-disciplinary and improvisational, inspired by Indigenous values of contributing to community in as many ways as possible. Qillaniq is an expression of radical joy, an exploration of what the artists tell us is possible in our communities, of holding space for the people who change our world – despite not always fitting into the norms of colonizing institutions – a celebration of those that share love as an answer to difficulty. Qillaniq, that shimmering on the water, that bright light honours the circumpolar world’s badass artists that tell us all that our existence is enough.⁣
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𝗞𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗞⁣
𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦⁣
2022 ⁣
dyed sealskin, leather + artificial sinew ⁣
12.75 x 7.25 x 1.5 in.⁣

𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗔 𝗧𝗔𝗔𝗟⁣ | Combined, Collapsed, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵⁣ continues until June 27⁣
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𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞⁣
𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗢⁣
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In this new body of work, Taal meditates on the poiesis of caves and stalagmite formations, rendering subterranean worlds that feel both ancient and intimately human. Through dense surfaces of graphite and moments of quiet luminosity, the works trace the subconscious terrain of the self, inviting viewers into a space where the body, the spirit, the earth, and the unknown become inseparable.⁣ ⁣
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𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘦 ⁣
2026⁣
graphite on paper⁣
13 3/4 x 11 in.⁣
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𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗔 𝗧𝗔𝗔𝗟⁣ | Combined, Collapsed, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵⁣
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𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞⁣
𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗢⁣
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Exhibition text by Amy Kazymerchyk, Writer & Curator, Pale Fire⁣ ⁣
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“These engravings pre-date most of the identified cave paintings in the world by 20,000–30,000 years. Cave paintings in El Castillo, Spain (40,000 BC), Coliboaia, Romania (32,000 BC), Chauvet, France (30,000 BC) and Nawarla Gabarnmang, Australia (28,000 BC) are highly regarded for the legibility of the animals and people depicted, the perceived narrative structure of their compositions, and the sophisticated use of tools and pigments. They have been touted as evidence of Homo sapiens’ great leap forward into “behavioural modernity,” during which our species superseded earlier hominids. These figurative paintings have influenced disciplines such as archeology and anthropology to associate human consciousness, intelligence and culture with figurative representation.⁣
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The Roche-Cotard engravings are currently attributed to Neanderthals, and some researchers have described the compositions as abstract art. This one of the few—if not the first—time, that Neanderthals have been identified as artists—a status previously reserved for sapiens. When the two species coexisted, visual markings made by the former are assumed to plagiarize the culture of the latter. However, the works at La Roche-Cotard pre-date sapiens habitation in the region by about 20,000 years. These independent symbolic gestures imbue archaic humans with advanced cognition previously assumed to solely belong to sapiens. However, their designation still denigrates toolless abstraction as an image-making strategy that belongs to premodern humans…” continue reading online.⁣
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