The 2023 Northern Quebec Artist of the Year award was awarded to textile artist Winifred Nungak by the Council of Arts and Letters of Quebec (CALQ). The Kangirsuk-based fashion designer and seamstress received the award in Montreal on December 7, the opening day of the 67th edition of the Salon des métiers d’art du Québec, in a special ceremony organized in cooperation with the Avataq Cultural Institute and Télé-Québec’s Fabrique Culturelle. Some of Winifred’s family were present at the event, which included a throat singing performance by Lydia Etok and Nina Segalowitz.

“It means so much to me, I am very honoured to win the Artist of Year Award which I did not expect,” Winifred said later in the month. The award comes with a $10,000 prize. “After many years of sewing, it is really rewarding. And the whole experience has been great and exciting, to be able to have an Exhibition at Salon des métiers d’art du Québec at Palais des Congrès du Montréal along with Artist of the Year Launch organized by Avataq and Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.”

Winifred learned to sew in elementary school and started creating her first atigiit as a teenager. She received a diploma in Fashion Design from LaSalle College in Montreal in 2013, before returning home and launching her own brand, Winifred Designs. Available for purchase only at certain events and online, her work sells quickly, and she has created custom designs for Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon, along with many Inuit organizations, including Makivvik.

Winifred is committed to sharing her knowledge with other Inuit and offers parka-making workshops in Nunavik communities where she teaches women and girls and gets great joy from seeing them learn how to make their own clothing.

“Winifred Nungak is a leader in the field of textile arts and a key figure in Indigenous fashion,” the CALQ jury members said. “Her creative work combines traditional and contemporary techniques with exceptional quality. She is very much engaged in transferring her know-how to women and girls in Inuit communities and is making an outstanding contribution to regional cultural life.”

As part of the award, a short documentary about Winifred and her work was filmed last September by Télé-Québec’s Fabrique Culturelle, which Winifred says, was also a great experience for her. Her future goals include setting up her own workshop with sewing machines and patterns available for younger women who love sewing, along with a little store and office of her own. “I also hope to travel to many more places to showcase and sell my art, have more exhibitions, and continue teaching ‘How to Make Atigiit’ sewing workshops. I dream big for Winifred Designs!”

The CALQ is a public agency founded in 1994 by the government of Quebec. It offers support and funding for art projects in the performing arts, multidisciplinary arts, circus arts, visual arts, media arts, architectural research, arts and crafts, and literature.