Qavavau Manumie
Qavavau was born in Brandon, Manitoba in 1958 where his mother, Paunichea, was hospitalized for treatment of tuberculosis. He returned to Cape Dorset as a very young child and has lived there since. Qavavau has demonstrated a range of stylistic abilities over the years - from the very literal to the more expressive. His work is idiosyncratic and often amusing in his depictions of Inuit legends and mythology, Arctic wildlife and contemporary aspects of Inuit life.
Qavavau is the latest among the second generation to attract critical acclaim from the contemporary arts audience in the south. He and Shuvinai Ashoona have been profiled, along with Nick Sikkuark of Gjoa Haven, in the Winnipeg-based arts magazine, Border Crossings. He traveled to Toronto in June of 2008 for his first solo exhibition of original drawings, and in 2009 to Vancouver for another exhibition featuring his contemporary work. He was invited to attend an opening of his work in Victoria in the fall of 2012.
For several years Qavavau has worked for the Kinngait Studios as a printmaker - first in the lithography studio and more recently in the stonecut studio. He is an accomplished and precise printmaker who enjoys the opportunity to demonstrate printmaking techniques to young artists and visitors to the studio.
Qavavau lives with his wife and son Peter in Cape Dorset.
Born on September 21, 1958 in Brandon, MB. Nationality is Inuit
Exhibitions
2019 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection, Dorset Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2018 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection, Dorset Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2017 Cape Dorset Print Collection (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2014 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2013 Venture North: Drawings from Cape Dorset, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff, AB
2013 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2012 Summer Show, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2012 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2011 Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, MB
2011 Gallery Artists, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2011 Fall Migration: A Selection of Birds in Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2011 Surreal: Eight Artists in the Fantastical Tradition, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2011 Contemporary North: Drawings from Cape Dorset, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, BC
2011 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2010 Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
2010 The Drawing Room, Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2010 Facing Forward – New Works from Kinngait Studios, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2010 North Meets South, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2010 Nipirasait: Many Voices, Inuit Prints from Cape Dorset, The Canadian Embassy Art Gallery, Washington, DC
2010 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2009-2010 Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON (illustrated catalogue)
2009-2010 The Drawing Room, Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2009-2010 Arctic Spirit: 50th Anniversary of Cape Dorset’s Kinngait Studios, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
2009 Extreme Drawing, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2009 New Views on Old Traditions, The Guild Shop, Toronto, ON
2009 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2006-2007 Small Sculptures by Great Artists, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2006 Supernatural: Inuit Fantastic Sculpture, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2005 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2004 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2003 Then and Now – Inuit Prints from 1962 – 2002, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Ltd., Vancouver, BC (illustrated brochure)
2003 Asingit: Inuit Art from the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection, University of Guelph, Naprstek Museum, Prague, Czech Republic (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
2003 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2002 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2001 Drawings from Cape Dorset, The Albers Gallery of Inuit Art, San Francisco, CA (illustrated catalogue)
2001 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2000 Arctic Spirit – Canadian Inuit Sculpture, Boise State University, Boise, ID
1999 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1998 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1998 Annual Graphics Collections, Dorset Fine Arts, Toronto, ON (illustrated catalogue)
1997 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1996 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1995 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1994 Arctic Spirit, 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
1994 Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo’s Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans, Edegem, Belgium (illustrated brochure)
1994 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1993-1994 Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (illustrated catalogue)
1993 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1992 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Montador, Dieppe, France
1992 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Le Theatre La Ciotat, France
1991 Inuit Music in Art: Singing and Dancing and Playing, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At La Halle aux Bles, Saint Malo, France
1991 Art Inuit Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Maite Aubert, Le Havre, France
1991 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Le Colombier Ville D’Avray, France
1990 Art Inuit, l’Art des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Maison Falleur, Cambrai, France
1990 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Palais de l’Europe, Le Touquet, France
1990 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, At Thonon les Bains, France
1990 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1990, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France
1990 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1989 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1988 Cape Dorset Print Collection (Printmaker) (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
