''River Water'', a mural presented by the MAC
Take a moment to contemplate the new mural River Water by Niap. This artwork celebrates the richness of the northern territory and Inuit culture through a fusion of traditional and contemporary techniques. It invites a thoughtful reflection on identity and the deep connection to nature.
About the Artist
Niap is an inuk artist from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. In her multidisciplinary practice – drawing, painting, sculpture, performance – she explores identity, cultural transmission, and representations of her home community's northern territory. Combining Inuit traditions with contemporary practices, she both preserves and reimagines her ancestors' heritage. Her attentive, sensitive gaze shows us landscapes that are not easily accessible and affirms her belonging to these territories.
About the mural
For the series River Water, Niap created abstract watercolour landscape paintings using water from different rivers in Nunavik, gathered during family outings. She found that colours are more saturated, brighter, with this water than with tap water. On the paper, the water guides the pigments' path, becoming a full collaborator in the process, so that the horizons portrayed also give the sense of rivers seen from the air. Here, land and sea find unusual formal kinship through the fluid's motion. Each work bears the trace of its origin and is rooted in Niap's personal history. Reproduced as a mural, the series becomes a gesture of appropriation of the land and the medium – a powerful affirmation of Kuujjuaq culture and a living bond uniting Inuit communities with their environment.