Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory wins the 2021 Sobey Art Award, a prestigious 100,000 CAD prize for emerging artists in Canada.
The winner of the 2021 Sobey Art Award, one of the world’s most valuable prizes for Canadian emerging visual artists, has been announced at a ceremony at the National Gallery of Canada. Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory has won the 100,000 CAD Canadian prize, with each of the four shortlisted artists—Lorna Bauer, Rémi Belliveau, Gabi Dao, and Rajni Perera—receiving 25,000 CAD. The award is generously supported by the Sobey Art Foundation.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Sobey Art Foundation, I want to personally congratulate this year’s winner—the inspiring Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory —along with all 25 long-listed artists who took part in the 2021 Sobey Art Award process,” said Rob Sobey, Chair, Sobey Art Foundation. “The last two years have been an unprecedented period of restrictions around human interactions, impacting the practices of contemporary artists across Canada and around the world. Our Foundation applauds the commitment and resilience of all practising artists across Canada throughout this period. On our collective behalf, I’d like to extend our gratitude to the record number of artists from across the country who were nominated by their peers for the 2021 Sobey, their work is a testament to the power and significance of art. We are honoured to be able to see and celebrate the work, careers and creativity of such an incredible group of artists.”
“We are so proud to announce Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory as the winner of the 2021 Sobey art award,” said Dr. Sasha Suda, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada, and Chair of the 2021 Sobey Art Award Jury. “The National Gallery of Canada could not be more grateful to everyone who makes the Sobey Art Award possible. Special thanks are due to the Sobey Art Foundation, this year’s dedicated group of jurors, and all of the nominated artists.”
“Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory provocatively transforms the framework of references for contemporary art. Williamson Bathory’s performance practice courageously defies preconceived notions through embodied lived experience. Her works invite us to share in a world abundant with possibilities infused with the interconnections of land, family, community and cultural knowledge,“ stated the 2021 Sobey Art Award jury.
“In a time when we recognize that this Canadian soil bears the small bodies of many thousands of Indigenous children, in an era when we work through colonial institutions to keep our families safe in the pandemic and at a moment when the Arctic city I live does not have potable water coming from the taps, I am proud to be recognized as I tell you the story of a momentous experience my family had on the land. As an Inuk, an artist, a mother and a family member, I can only tell you my story and this one is joy and celebration, awe and difficulty, beauty and destruction all at once. Qujannamiik, thank you for this incredible prize,” said artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
Representing the Prairies and North Region, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, the 2021 Sobey Art Award winner, was chosen by a jury of experienced Canadian curators from coast to coast alongside two international jurors.
About the winner
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory is a kalaaleq (Greenlandic Inuk) performance artist, poet, actor, storyteller and writer based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is known for performing uaajeerneq, a Greenlandic mask dance that involves storytelling centred around three elements: fear, humour and sexuality. Laakkuluk describes uaajeerneq as both a political and cultural act, and an idiosyncratic art form.
For all media inquiries, please contact:
Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Officer, Media and Public Relations, National Gallery of Canada
bmallet [at] gallery.ca
Denise Siele
Senior Manager, Communications, National Gallery of Canada
dsiele [at] gallery.ca
Bernard Doucet
Executive Director, The Sobey Art Foundation
Bernard.doucet [at] sobeys.com
