Qaumajuq reminds us that art and culture thrive in spaces where everyone feels welcome. Let's carry that spirit of inclusion with us, wherever we go.
Photo: Tony Eetak
Values

ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕐᓂᖅ – Pijitsirniq

By Tony Eetak

Qaumajuq reminds us that art only truly flows when everyone has a place to be heard, when all voices are free to exist. It’s in the spaces where we feel like we belong, no matter who we are. Let’s take that vibe with us, into everything we create and everywhere we go. It’s about building those spaces, about making sure no one is left out. When we create together, we’re not just making art—we’re making a world that feels real, feels right, for everyone.

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Creating, Sharing, and Growing Together Through Art

By Tony Eetak

Pijitsirniq is all about giving back, but in the most creative way possible. It’s not just about handing something over—it’s about sharing your art, your music, your ideas, and lifting up the people around you. Whether you’re making a song that gets stuck in everyone’s head, teaching a friend how to play, or posting your work online for others to see, you’re doing Pijitsirniq.

Artists don’t create in a vacuum. Everything you make is for the community—it’s about making the world a little brighter, a little more connected. When artists thrive, the whole community does. So it’s like this loop: you give, they give, and we all grow. For a community to really work, we’ve gotta make sure artists feel supported, celebrated, and empowered to do their thing.

In music, in painting, in dance—every form of art is a chance to give back. The more we share, the more we all get out of it. Pijitsirniq is the flow that keeps everything moving.

Filed Under: 2024-5782, Manitoba, SDG 3, Winnipeg
Picture of Tony Eetak

Tony Eetak

Tony Eetak is an emerging artist, musician and culture connector from Arviat, Nunavut, now exploring the arts in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A founding member of the Art Borups Corners, Tony has a demonstrated passion for photography, music, composition, and visual arts. With over five years of experience as a dedicated volunteer, collaborator and co-funder of several arts projects, Tony has been involved in various participatory arts events through organizations like the Arviat Film Society, Global Dignity Canada, Inclusion in Northern Research, and Our People, Our Climate. His contributions earned him recognition as a National Role Model by Global Dignity Canada in 2023. His work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council and the OpenAI Researcher Access Program.

This project was supported by:

Values

Traditional values are the quiet architecture behind our lives—the steady lines that shape how we see, speak, and care for one another. They hold the weight of generations, carried not in grand declarations, but in small, intentional acts: the way we greet our elders, the stories we pass down at the table, the silence we keep in moments of reverence. In a world that moves fast and forgets easily, traditional values ask us to pause, to remember what matters. They are not rules, but rhythms—a kind of cultural heartbeat that reminds us who we are, and who we’re responsible to. Holding onto them isn’t about staying still; it’s about moving forward with depth, connection, and meaning.