The Government of Yukon and the Canada Council for the Arts will co-host the Arctic Arts Summit in the Yukon in June 2022.

The Arctic Arts Summit brings together artists 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. 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 of Yukon and the Canada Council for the Arts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining the roles to jointly administer, coordinate, and host the summit, which will be for the North, by the North, with strong Indigenous content and participation.

The 2022 Arctic Arts Summit will focus on:

• improving understanding, engagement and support for northern artists, organizations, and communities;
• advancing international collaboration around the arts/cultures of peoples of the circumpolar Arctic region;
• advancing discourse on Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and cultural integrity in Canada and internationally, specifically as it relates to Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, and
• strengthening relationships between the Canada Council, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and other Northern regions of Canada.

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.