The Inuit Art Centre, officially announced on May 25, 2018, is the largest Inuit art centre in the world, has a new Inuit name “Qaumajuq [HOW-ma-yourq]”, meaning “It is bright, it is lit,” which celebrates the light that flows into the new building connected to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. This naming initiative is an important step on the WAG’s Indigenization journey, as is free admission for all Indigenous Peoples to WAG-Qaumajuq starting with the landmark opening, expected to launch in February 2021. It is the first time an Indigenous naming of this kind has occurred at a major art institution in Canada.
The circle of language keepers representing Indigenous communities across Inuit Nunangat and Treaty 1 territory endowed the WAG building with an Anishinaabemowin name: Biindigin Biwaasaeyaah [BEEN- deh-gen Bi-WAH-say-yah], meaning “Come on in, the dawn of light is here” or “the dawn of light is coming.”