The territorial government and the Canada Council for the Arts will co-host the Arctic Arts Summit in the Yukon, June 27-29, 2022.

“The Yukon is immensely proud to co-host this international symposium of circumpolar arts and culture for the first time in Canada,” Tourism and Culture Minister Ranj Pillai said Tuesday.

“We look forward to working together with the Canada Council for the Arts as well as our many community partners throughout the North to create a truly innovative event that will highlight and advance the vision, voices and shared experiences of this unique region.”

“The Arctic Arts Summit is a biennial event that brings together artists, academics and those involved in the cultural fields from Arctic countries to strengthen the northern art community and create infrastructures as well as partnerships for circumpolar arts to develop,” said a news release that accompanied the announcement.

This is the first time it will be hosted in Canada. Bringing together representatives of the Indigenous nations and Arctic countries in the circumpolar region, the 2022 summit will explore and advance the perspectives, stories and cultures of the North with an aim to stimulate ongoing, sustainable collaboration in arts and creative industries throughout the region.”

The government and the council have signed a memorandum of understanding outlining how the partnership will work.

In addition to the in-person summit, a digital platform will be created to broaden the reach of summit programming by inviting more voices into the conversations and providing space to showcase more work from the Circumpolar North.

This platform will also be the hub for a series of events in the year leading up to the summit itself.

More details, including a schedule of upcoming events, will be announced in the fall.

This will be the third Arctic Arts Summit. The first was held in 2017 in Harstad, Norway.

The second summit was held in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2019.

“The Canada Council is deeply committed to strengthening existing synergies and expanding connections with organizations and leaders in the North,” said Simon Brault, the council’s director and CEO.

“The priorities we identify and the actions we take today to express and showcase the realities of the art and culture of the peoples of the circumpolar North, and in particular with Indigenous communities, are necessary building blocks to a more inclusive and sustainable future.”