North Slave Region
This centrally located region encompasses both boreal and tundra terrain, stretching between the Territory’s’ two biggest lakes. This is home to the Tłı̨chǫ, Akaitcho and Yellowknives Dene, along with a diverse group of residents from across the country and the globe, that together weave a rich cultural tapestry in the territory’s capital city.
This land is a bountiful resource for local harvesters and artists who use raw materials from the land. Traditional arts and fine crafts preserve the region’s unique style and pass traditional knowledge onto future generations. Clothing and accessories are made from locally tanned moose or caribou hides and adorned with intricate designs of beadwork or quillwork. The centuries-old tradition of drum making is a vital part of this area’s history and is being preserved through workshops and documentary films.
The capital city of Yellowknife is an eclectic, multi-cultural mix of artists and art forms. Storytellers, authors and musicians preserve oral history from the region in literary and performance arts. Contemporary artists draw inspiration from the land to create inspiring works of art. Filmmakers and photographers capture and share the spirit of living in the NWT with the world. Yellowknife’s vibrant arts scene continues to grow in diversity and frequency, with arts events happening weekly, if not nightly.
Use our online tool to learn Where to Buy NWT Art in the North Slave Region.
Or download printable, translated documents (PDFs):
Where to Buy NWT Art in Yellowknife: English, French (français), German (Deutsch), Japanese (日本語)
Events
Yellowknife
March
Date: March 22nd, 2024 to March 27th, 2024
Community: Yellowknife
Location: The Gallery on 47th Street
The Gallery of 47th Street is pleased to welcome Indigenous abstract artist, Eileen Marlowe, for her first Gallery show. Eileen uses her arts as a way of aligning herself spiritually and convening spiritual guidance and energy through colour and shapes. Her pieces are powerful with strong use of colour, texture, and geometry.
Join them for the opening reception Friday from 4-8 p.m.
Additional hours:
- Saturday 11-3
- Monday 10-4
- Tuesday 10-4
- Wednesday 10-4
Date: March 29th, 2024
Community: Yellowknife
Location: The Gallery on 47th Street
Join us for our second annual Easter "Market"- no tables, one till, lots of local art and artists.
Opening reception Friday from 4-8 p.m.
Additional hours:
- Saturday 11-3
- Easter Monday 11-3
- Tuesday 10-4
- Wednesday 10-4
April
Date: April 6th, 2024
Community: Yellowknife
Location: Northern Arts and Cultural Centre
Mozongi (Return) is a piece about time and, more precisely, about the physics of time. The step is weight, and weight is time. Not repetition, but persistence. The structure of Mozongi thus unfolds through the contrasts of movement and of immobility, of the one and of the many, in order to give shape to a primordial conflict – that of time, which consumes space. For more than three decades, Zab Maboungou/Compagnie Danse Nyata-Nyata has traced the trajectories of a revised and corrected contemporaneity. Zab Maboungou assumes the general and artistic direction of the company, founded in 1987...
May
Date: May 11th, 2024
Community: Yellowknife
Location: Northern Arts and Cultural Centre
BENCHED is a brutally honest bodily tale about life’s big and very small questions. About settling down. About daring to sit in opposition, about sitting cross legged, about being sat, put off or benched. About taking, creating, and giving space, and preferably remembering to do so before falling on your ass where the bench ends. Uppercut Danseteater is a diverse and international dance company that was founded in 1982 by Cher Geurtze and Ann Crooset as one of the first modern companies in Denmark. BENCHED is a classic Uppercut Danseteater piece, in the way that the individual dancers’...
Date: May 25th, 2024
Community: Yellowknife
Location: Northern Arts and Cultural Centre
For fifty years, Norman Glowach has been playing music in Yellowknife. He started playing the drums, but he also sings and plays guitar. Growing up in Yellowknife, Norm has been fortunate to play many styles of music. At an early age, he played in school bands and stage bands. Professionally, he’s played old time music, fiddle music, country music, rock & roll, jazz and blues. These musical experiences all come out in the music he writes and records. He has run his studio, Spiritwalker Productions, for over 30 years in downtown Yellowknife. Norm credits the driving force behind his...