Ann Mikijuk Hanson Joins Nunavut Media Arts Centre Team

Ann Mikijuk Hanson, one of the most respected figures in northern broadcasting, film and journalism, has joined the planning team supporting the construction of the Nunavut Media Arts Centre.

"There is absolutely no argument. We need a real Nunavut Media Arts Centre", said Ms. Hanson. "The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, along with CBC radio and television are playing a big part in preserving Inuktitut language, culture, history, survival skills, humour, and all things Inuit way of life. It is ludicrous we are expected to produce high quality Inuktitut programming in run down old buildings, buildings that go back to Second World War, previously owned by American Military."

Ann Hanson (born May 22, 1946) studied community development at Saint Francis Xavier University and journalism at Nunavut Arctic College. She served as the Commissioner of Nunavut from April 21, 2005 until April 10, 2010. A committed volunteer, she has helped to start many organizations in Iqaluit, including the Juvenile Court Committee, the Elders Group, the Inuit Cultural Group, and the Quinuajuaq Society.

But she is perhaps best known across Canada as an actress, author, journalist, narrator, reporter and producer, with an impressive body of work within the CBC, the National Film Board and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation.

"I am proud to welcome a leader of Ann's experience to work with us on this exciting initiative,” said IBC Chair Madeleine d’Argencourt. “The Nunavut Media Arts Centre will raise the quality and prominence of film and television production in Nunavut to a whole new level. Ann is one of the founders of Inuit media in Canada: her experience, her wisdom, and her enthusiasm for the Centre will be instrumental in the completion of the new Centre.”

Hanson joins a team of planners and fundraisers overseeing IBC’s building campaign for the first full-scale, state-of-the-art, digital audio, video, recording, performance and post production facilities in Nunavut. The Centre, scheduled for completion during the summer of 2013, will bring media arts in Nunavut to a new internationally-competitive level of production service and capacity, and is expected to draw local and territorial freelancers, small to medium production companies, and other broadcasters – both Canadian and offshore – to work in Nunavut.

The building lot is located on Inuit-owned land donated by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association in the core of the business and government district of Iqaluit, minutes away from the Legislative Assembly. IBC will be launching a fundraising Building Campaign and website in the next few weeks.