Northern Exposure

Winnipeg’s Qaumajuq is more than an art gallery or a stylish feat of architecture. It’s a monument to reconciliation with Inuit cultures.

Jacob Rutka

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO DIVORCE QAUMAJUQ from Canadian history itself. The $55-million, 36,000-square-foot addition to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, or WAG, opened in March of 2021, housing the museum’s 14,000 permanent pieces of Inuit art—and 8,000 more on long-term loan. It’s now the world’s largest public collection of Inuit art, and a beacon of reconciliation reflected by its Inuktitut name: pronounced “KOWmah-yourk,” it means “it is bright, it is lit.” The work of finding a home for the collection began seven decades ago, when the gallery started acquiring carvings. “The WAG is 110 years old,” says Stephen Borys, Qaumajuq’s director and CEO. “Can you ever truly decolonize a colonial institution? That’s up for debate. But you can bring essential voices to the table.” The Los Angeles–based architect Michael Maltzan, who designed…

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Maclean's (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2022

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