The Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award (KAMA) is a biennial prize that supports the practice of an Inuk artist by facilitating opportunities for artistic development and career growth. Established in 2014 by generous members of the Inuit art community, this award honours the life and work of the late Kenojuak Ashevak, and her unparalleled contributions to the cultural life and arts of Inuit Nunangat and beyond by providing funding to artists to expand their careers and reach new audiences.
Each artist longlisted for the award receives a cash prize of $2,500 and is featured in a dedicated catalogue distributed with the Spring 2023 issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly. Each artist shortlisted for the award receives a $5,000 cash prize in addition to a group exhibition, which is also made possible with the support of RBC Emerging Artists.
The IAF invites nominations from artists directly, as well as professional acquaintances including curators, gallerists, writers, critics, fellow artists and others in relevant fields, in support of an Inuit artist’s practice. Individual artists are encouraged to self-nominate if they wish to do so. All KAMA applications will be assessed by an external jury of Inuit arts professionals.
ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINEES
- Must be an Inuk living in Canada with citizenship, permanent residence or refugee status
- Be at least 18 years old
- Have specialized training in their artistic discipline (academic accreditation not a requirement)
- Recognized as a professional, established artist by their peers (i.e. artists working in the same artistic tradition) within the past 2 to 3 years
- Have had their work recognized in a public capacity (i.e. in a gallery, publication, website, collection, etc.)
- Are committed to continually furthering their artistic practice
ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATORS
- Must have known the nominated artist in a professional capacity
- A professional currently working in a Canadian university
- An established artist, curator, writer/critic or arts professional
- A private Canadian art dealer
- A family member so long as having worked together in a professional capacity. This should be clearly outlined in the notes of the nomination/application
NOMINATIONS MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
- Nomination Letter (1 page max)
- Artist Statement (250 words max)
- Artist Bio (250 words max)
- Nominator Bio (250 words max)
- Artist CV (3 pages max)
- Visual Support Material (15 images and/or 5 videos max; please identify a minimum of three images/video stills that may be used for promotional purposes by the IAF in support of KAMA)
- Completed and Signed Nomination Form and Support Material List
Please select visual support material mindfully, as committee members have limited time to consider each nomination. Images should be labeled numerically with the artist’s name (01_name.jpg, 02_name.jpg, etc.). As an alternative, you may include a link to a web-based portfolio. If you choose to mail or fax your submission, you may print your visual support material or save to a USB drive. Please fill out the Support Material List which includes the title of work, date created, medium, and dimensions.
Video documentation should be uploaded to a site such as YouTube or Vimeo and linked in the application. If you are submitting via mail, please save files (mp4 or mov) via USB drive. Regardless of duration, please include full videos. Due to time constraints, the jury may only view up to 5 minutes of each video. Please note the excerpt you would prefer the jury view by including time marks in the documentation list.