Meet the NWT artists attending a residency program in Sweden

Northwest Territories artists Brian Kowikchuk and Leela Gilday have been chosen to attend an art residency in northern Sweden’s Tärnaby next year.

Hundreds of applications poured in for the Aejlies Indigenous Arctic Art Residency after a June news release invited Indigenous artists from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, Quebec and Labrador to apply.

Musician Gilday said she learnt about the Aejlies residency through an Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance newsletter. Having previously led international Arctic projects, she decided to send in an application and pitch her ideas.

Gilday said the past four and a half years have been difficult for her and her family following the loss of her husband, Darrel, to cancer. She said writing music will serve as “medicine and healing” – a way to honour his memory.

From June: Darrel Mack, a fighter in life and a family man, is remembered

This will be her first time collaborating with Sámi people.

“I was lucky enough to be selected,” Gilday told Cabin Radio. “It’s an opportunity to explore connections between Arctic Indigenous communities, both personal and collective experiences, from a musical creation lens. It’s challenging and exciting.”

Gilday said she has previously worked with musicians from Greenland, Nunavut and the Yukon, producing what she calls “unique and beautiful music together.” She hopes to build similar connections in Sweden.

She said artistic residencies like Aejlies give her the space to delve deeply into songwriting and composition – something she considers both a “joy and a privilege.” Through the program she hopes to make new friends, work on musical creations and learn more about the local culture and traditions.

Her focus is on climate change from a Dene perspective, writing songs in Dene Kede with support from her family as she continues to learn the language.

“From talking with Elders and other family who live and work on the land, over several years I have observed the many impacts of climate change on our land, animals, and lifestyle,” she said, adding she intends to explore common experiences with Sámi in this regard and write music inspired by it.

Mural plan

Kowikchuk said this will be his first time participating in a residency program.

He initially thought such opportunities were only available to those pursuing further education, but his friend Mahalia Newmark informed him that he qualified and encouraged him to apply.

Kowikchuk said he didn’t expect to hear back from the program but, soon after applying, organizers contacted him to let him know he had made it into the top six.

An informal interview followed, where he discussed some of his previous works, including designing murals in different communities. He said that skill was attractive to them, considering they didn’t have any murals in the village of Tärnaby, which has a population of 500.

“Working in climate change and navigating mental health was something that I can bring to the table,” he said. “I told them it’d be great to be able to bring my character to life on that side of the apple and navigate culture and climate change.”

Kowikchuk said his journey with art began by teaching others and creating murals with different people from his region.

He later worked on projects with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Hope House and the Gwich’in Tribal Council, which he says gave him a strong foundation for future work. Recently, he has expanded into digital illustration and has several murals set to go up in his home community of Tuktoyaktuk.

For his residency in Sweden, Kowikchuk will spend about a month in Tärnaby, where he will have his own studio and collaborate with the local Sámi community. He plans to create up to four large-scale murals inspired by reindeer and the Sámi people’s culture, exploring connections between circumpolar communities.

“I’m sure that whatever work we do, the community could continue with their art projects and utilizing art as a way to communicate senses of identity,” he said. He hopes the project will help the residents use art as a form of therapy.

Kowikchuk is waiting for one of his books – The Lost Inukshuk, currently under consideration by a publisher – to be published. He plans to incorporate lessons from his residency into future volumes.