Dr. Mark David Turner
Cultural Historian, Musician
Mark is a cultural historian deeply invested in the media, music, and documentary heritage of the Northwest Atlantic and Circumpolar North.
Dr. Mark David Turner is a cultural historian, musician, and small business owner from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. For over fifteen years, he has worked at the intersection of documentary heritage, media, and performing arts in the Northwest Atlantic and Circumpolar North, especially in the communities of Nunatsiavut. He is an adjunct professor at Memorial University’s School of Music and at the Grenfell Campus’s School of Arts and Social Science. Mark also co-owns the Labrador-based publishers and consultancy Brack and Brine.
Mark combines his different roles to lead arts and public history projects for northern-focussed organizations. Recently, he served as the interim director of the Inuit Art Foundation where he assisted the foundation in its transition to Inuit leadership. His writing has appeared in several popular and academic publications as well as in his award-winning books, Inuit TakugatsaliuKatiget | On Inuit Cinema (Memorial University Press, 2022) and the co-authored Labrador Cinema (Brack and Brine, 2022). As a musician, he advocates for the revived Labrador Inuit Brass Band tradition and has helped facilitate several workshops, tours and albums. He is also a producer in rock and contemporary classical genres.
You can learn more about his work on his website.