Saliqmiut: The Building
Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture is being developed in the epicentre of Northern arts and culture. The centre will be a destination for artists and cultural tourists, and its prominence in the Western Arctic as a structure is representative of the importance it holds in the future of Inuvialuit.
Exterior view of Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture
At 20,000 square feet, Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture is going to be a marvel for Tuktuuyaqtuuq, and Inuvialuit culture and history has been built into the very foundations of the centre’s design - created by Simon Taylor of Taylor Architecture Group. At its core and from its very beginning, Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture has been designed to be relevant, traditional, and unique.
For Simon Taylor, capturing elements of the past and creating space for the future influenced the design of the centre and its most important features, including the Great Hall.
“One of the key drivers that the heritage committee had was recognizing the idea of a sod house. They were very keen for the building to take that idea as a form.”
Designed after an Igluryuq - the traditional sod house structure of Inuvialuit - the Great Hall features a large floor area designed to showcase dance, music, traditional games, film, storytelling, among other large-format art forms. A separate green room and rehearsal workshop will serve to support the Great Hall activities. With a capacity of up to 150 people, this area would also be used as a central gathering place for the community.
Traditional igluryuq in Tuktuuyaqtuuq
Igluryuaq-inspired Great Hall
Large communal gatherings have always been the place for art and storytelling for Inuvialuit - the Great Hall will be the place to continue that tradition. Recognizing that traditional structure was important to the community, and an opportunity for Simon.
“The significance of [the Igluryuq] was not the exterior view, but rather as an interior environment. When you go into the Great Hall, you’ll be getting that experience from inside the building.”
More than a place to gather, the centre also provides three indoor workshops and one outdoor workshop for artists. All of these spaces are multi-functional for the different forms of art practiced by Inuvialuit, and can easily be a space for artisanal and educational use. Each workshop will be devoted to storing the tools, materials, and other storage for art from drum making and beading to silk screening and digital art.
Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture is a place for arts and culture to thrive into the future as well as a place to respect the past. The centre’s museum and archive space will not only allow for display of artifacts and the hosting of travelling exhibits, but also the repatriation of many culturally significant objects currently stored in other museums outside the community. This area will also include a library space, which will hold digital and hard copy books and literary materials to assist in research, education, and celebration of Inuvialuit culture and heritage.
The centre provides amazing opportunities to share arts and culture with tourists and other artists as recognition grows about the unique culture of Inuvialuit. To allow for students, artists, speakers, teachers and travellers, the centre was designed with lodging to better host guests. “The residence facility is where groups can come together for events at the heritage centre and stay at the heritage centre to take part in cultural activities.”
With so much of Inuvialuit art inspired by the land and uniqueness of the Western Arctic, designing for the outdoor spaces would need to be just as rooted in a traditional experience, with views and access to the sights and sounds that have inspired art for centuries.
“In the summer there is a desire to be outside, and so the outside grounds were just as important as the interior space in a lot of ways. One of the many wonderful things about Tuktuuyaqtuuq are the views of all sorts of wonderful environments.”
Simon Taylor, Principal at Taylor Architecture Group in Yellowknife
Practices like sculpting and carving are capable of being practiced outside, with an outdoor fire circle gathering place providing another space for large gatherings. Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture will have the hamlet in view on one side and the magnificent pinguqsaaryuit on the other.
The centre will also have space for a cafe, gift shop, offices, meeting facilities, and a kitchen - all to service the remarkable and important work that will live and grow from the centre and provide a unified place to house the voices, stories, and knowledge the Inuvialuit of the past, present, and future.
“The potential is to have a heritage centre that is not just a gathering place. It’s a place where ideas, art, and culture is explored and facilitated from an intellectual perspective and also a tactile and craft perspective.”
“The most exciting part of the project is always the excitement and the anticipation of the organization and the people from the community that see the potential - as a means of passing along traditional knowledge to future generations in a way that has meaning.”
Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture will have the remarkable goal of defining the future of art, culture, storytelling and tradition in the Western Arctic well into the future, and it is fitting that such an important job is matched with such a significant building. Like our own ambition for this project, the centre will bring arts and culture in Tuktuuyaqtuuq to new heights.
Click below to see episode 3, Our Place of Culture, of our 8-part Saliqmiut mini-documentary series. Simon Taylor, Principal of Taylor Architecture Group, takes us through the design inspiration behind the Saliqmiut building design and shows how community and culture are at the core of its conception. As always, be sure to follow our social channels to be the first to know when a new episode is released!
