Katherine Takpannie

As a self taught emerging photographer, Katherine Takpannie honours her Inuit worldview through her lens; one that is strongly grounded in social accountability and unity. To her, photography is the best medium to reclaim her identity and explore her experiences as an urban Inuk. Katherine uses her knowledge of her history, culture and language to seamlessly convey her vision and emotion. Takpannie's artistic practice also focuses on revealing the complexities and nuances of urban Inuit life, which includes capturing contemporary issues that Indigenous Canadians face daily. Katherine aims to help raise awareness, and bring forth important conversations through her work.

My Photography career started out with the Art Gallery of Guelph, in 2018 with the exhibit, Getting Under Our Skin, which was inspired by Inuk filmmaker Alethea Anarquq-Baril’s award-winning documentary Angry Inuk. The exhibition was grounded in intergenerational art and activism that spoke to the central role of the seal and seal hunting within Inuit culture and society. I documented the Pro Seal Hunt Rally on Parliament Hill which was a hybrid fashion show, dance performance, and protest by Inuit students wearing seal skin parkas. From there, the City of Ottawa’s Direct Purchase Program acquired a piece called “Our Women and Girls are Sacred” named after the disproportionately high number of murdered and missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit in Canada, and it had showcased it during the exhibit Kaleidoscope. 

Then, my proudest achievement: I became a recipient of the 2020 New Generation Photography Award. The National Gallery of Canada in collaboration with Scotiabank created the New Generation Photography Award to support Canadian artists at the beginning of their careers, aged 35 and under, who create lens-based photographic work. Due to the pandemic, the exhibit only began in August 13, 2021 until December 5, 2021. Soon afterwards, I  was one of the winners for the SAW Prize for New Works. 

A short while later, In February 2021, the exhibit Starting Over… Again with Olga Korper Gallery was a multi-generational group exhibition celebrating the power of art and community. The show took us on a journey, from ashes to renewal and reminds us that hope prevails even in times of uncertainty and despair. The power of art and community has restored us as we prepare for our next journey. 

My pieces titled, “Return If Possible” features my brother Simon, a young Inuk man who left us too soon. Inuit suicides rates are the highest in the country. His death has left me angry, grief stricken and a deep desire for a dire need of awareness and change. I want to honour Simon, tell his story and advocate for all Inuit who need to heal from the acculturation, intergenerational traumas and ongoing colonial violence. 

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Art Gallery exhibits, 'Our Women and Girls are Sacred #4, 2018' in 'Inuit Sanaugangit | Art Across Time', a celebration of sanaugangit (sa-now-gan-eet or sa-now-gah-knee), “art by Inuit”— a survey of artistic expression from approximately 200 BCE until the present day. With a staggering selection of nearly 400 works produced by artists from Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Canadian work from the Contemporary Period will share creative highlights from Inuit communities across the Canadian arctic from Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

Following, a very exciting and new exhibition in 2023, for the first time in its history, the storied Simcoe Hall at the University of Toronto is hosting a long-term installation of contemporary photography from the university’s permanent collection foregrounding some of today’s most respected Indigenous artists from across Canada, spanning several generations. Traditionally, Simcoe Hall displays portraits of leaders who shaped the University of Toronto’s development over nearly two centuries but in a significant gesture of acknowledging the importance of making space for Indigenous voices and presence, these portraits have been moved aside to make way for works of art that honour Indigenous continuity and resilience in confronting the colonial occupation of the land. In these artists’ hands, the camera becomes a world-making instrument, linking narratives across time and place, and offering new points of engagement and connection.