Discover how whistling at the aurora borealis inspired this year’s NWT directory art
The muskox in Brian Kowikchuk’s digital art piece, Uumingmak (Muskox), stands alone in a blue, frostbitten winterscape. Looking at it, you feel the cold, the quiet, and the sense of lonely isolation. And yet, the muskox is not alone. The northern lights dancing above are more than a beautiful distraction. They are guides, leading the muskox back to its family.
This art piece promoted the living dynamic that exists between the aurora borealis—ancestors of the Inuvialuit—and the communities they are watching over.
“It’s that whole circle of life,” Brian explains. “By our ancestors guiding the muskox, it’s making sure the population is healthy, so that when the time comes that their children need to eat, the harvest is there.”
Northern lights were a given from Brian’s earliest memory of growing up in Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik, Northwest Territories. When southerners ask him about this magic in the sky, he doesn’t quite know what to say. For him, they’ve always just been there. Not that they didn’t excite respect. “As children, we were taught by our Elders not to whistle at them or they’ll come down and chop off our heads,” he laughs.
Uumingmak (Muskox) – digital art
Whistling at the northern lights was seen as teasing the ancestors, because “In our culture, that’s where we go, when we go…to the aurora.”
Today, Brian no longer takes the aurora borealis for granted, or the give-and-take relationship portrayed in his winning piece. In fact, for him, the foundation of all art is that same give-and-take within community. Looking back at his upbringing in Tuktoyaktuk, he is quick to acknowledge his high school art teacher, Elizabeth Lewis, as being his biggest inspiration. “She really believed in me. I thought, if somebody can believe in me so much, I could put in a little bit of effort and believe in myself. So that’s how it started.”
Today, as a flourishing artist himself, Brian hasn’t forgotten the value of mentoring others. As a frequent art class facilitator, he sees the importance of sharing and teaching art.
“As we grow up from children, we learn to be adults. But when we become adults, we also have to learn to be children. Art is one of the best ways to connect to ourselves, to our inner child.”
Brian teaching his niece Gwenith how to create digital art.
Brian’s six-year-old niece is the perfect embodiment of that inner child, and a regular in his painting classes. When she’s not stealing hearts with her confidence and cuteness, she’s winning admiration from her uncle, both as an artist and a singer, a talent inherited from her mother, Brian’s sister.
“I’m really excited to feed that fire. That will be my contribution to that little one.”
Brian and Gwenith with the NWT winning art on a trail off Gwich’in Road in Inuvik.
For Brian, winning the Northwestel Art Contest feels like a checkered-flag moment. “As children living here in the North, we’ve all grown up seeing those phone book covers. It’s a really big milestone.” A celebratory moment not just for him, but for his whole community.
After all, none of us ever truly does it alone.
As the winner of the directory art contest, Brian receives a $5,000 prize from Northwestel. Find more of Brian’s art on Facebook and at @Kowikchuk on Instagram.
For over 30 years, Northwestel has published rich northern art on the covers of our directories. The land we live in inspires all of us in different ways. From touching family traditions to realistic recreations of arctic landscapes, we admire and celebrate the creativity of those who make up our North.
Meet our 2023 directory art winners:
Think about submitting your artwork for next year's directory art competition? Visit our Directory art page and keep an eye out for the 2024 contest, opening in September.
Get a directory
View online
Find a pick-up location
Photography by: Creating Kilter Photography
