Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona was awarded one of two special mentions by the jury of the Venice Biennale as the prestigious international art festival opened this weekend.
Ashoona, whose work is included in the biennale's international exhibition, The Milk of Dreams, is only the third Inuk artist to exhibit at the biennale. She was born in 1961 in Kinngait, Nunavut, and continues to live there.
"Ashoona reveals in her drawings and paintings a profundity of Indigenous Inuk cosmogonies," the jury said in a statement. "An existence in which species are interdependent on each other, and which is not mediated by the coloniality of power of the human species. Acknowledging the violences of the colonial enterprise, Ashoona, in her work proposes possibilities of escaping the cul-de-sac by listening in, listening back and listening forward to Indigenous knowledge."
The Milk of Dreams, organized by Italian-born curator Cecilia Alemani, features 213 artists from 58 countries, including three other artists from Canada – Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill, Kapwani Kiwanga and Tau Lewis. The show aims to challenge male dominance in the art world.
The Golden Lion for the Best Participant in the The Milk of Dreams went to American artist Simone Leigh, while a Silver Lion for a Promising Young Participant in the The Milk of Dreams was given to Ali Cherri, a Lebanese artist who lives in Paris.
The other artist to receive a special mention was American Lynn Hershman Leeson, who was praised for "indexing the cybernetic concerns that run through the exhibitions in an illuminating and powerful way."
Meanwhile, British artist Sonia Boyce won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation, with special mentions to France and Uganda.
Golden Lions for lifetime achievement went to German artist Katharina Fritsch and Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña.
Source: Venice Biennale