Artist in Residence Niap Saunders: Adults Workshop
Located in the Education Studios
About the artist:
Niap (Nancy Saunders) is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist whose work has been collected by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec and Avataq Cultural Institute in Westmount, QC, among others. Based in Montreal, QC, the artist divides her time between the city and her home community of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC—a place that continues to deeply influence her work.
Her practice shifts between carving, textiles, paintings, photography, and more. Through each medium, she explores and investigates her identity as an Inuk woman. “I have been learning more about and finding this new pride in my culture,” she explains, “which has allowed me to create depth in my work”. Niap is an advocate for her community and culture. As a teenager she walked from Duncan, BC, to Ottawa, ON, to raise awareness for Indigenous youth suicide prevention. Also a throat singer, she has performed at several public events including a 2014 ceremony in Quebec that recognized throat singing as a form of intangible heritage under the Cultural Heritage Act. In 2019, her first solo exhibition Ivalu was held at Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto, ON, and focused on traditional tattooing practices.