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= Qavavau Manumie = Qavavau Manumie is an Inuit artist born in 1958 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.

As a young child, he spent time in foster care while his mother, Paunichea, was being treated for tuberculosis. When she recovered, Qavavau moved with his mother and older brother, Tukiki Manumie, to Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada. Qavavau still lives in Cape Dorset today with his wife and son.

Qavavau Manumie was born into a family of artists; his grandfather, Kiakshuk Manumie and mother Paunichea Manumie both had long careers as Inuit artists. His older brothers, Axangayu Shaa and Tukiki Manumie, followed suit with their own artistic careers continuing the family tradition.

Manumie’s work can be found in galleries across Canada like the National Gallery of Canada and the McMichael Collection of Canadian Art. His art explores the effects of colonialism in Nunavut through dreamlike depictions of landscapes, animals, and people. His art catalogs the way life in Nunavut has changed throughout the 21st century through the use of modern, industrial motifs.

Qavavau Manumie has established himself as both a printmaker and graphic artist. He began his career in 1988 at the Kinngait Studios, where he still works today. He works in both lithography and stone cut printing at Kinngait Studios. Working with these two extremes allows him to fluctuate between highly narrative and abstract designs which show in his works. He takes opportunities to demonstrate and teach his techniques to upcoming artists and visitors of the studio.

Qavavau Manumie has become famous in the contemporary art world for his humorous prints. Manumie’s drawings explore a wide range of themes from naturalistic to imaginative imagery of arctic wildlife. Many of his prints are based in legends and mythology from the Inuit culture. His work, the Red Fox from 2007 exemplifies his imaginative style. The print depicts a fox smoking a pipe as a reference to the belief that humans and animals can emulate one another’s behaviour. Although fantastic in subject, Manumie’s naturalistic approach conveys information about the travel across the arctic on foot. His prints also explore contemporary global issues. He deals with these issues, like environmental changes, in an often humorous way. He borrows themes and motifs from his brother Tukiki’s sculptures as the two often worked closely.

“I like to draw animals, and images of people, sometimes combined. I enjoy the animals and the land, and I take what I see there to my drawings.”

His work showcases a range of stylistic abilities that through many years of working at Kinngait Studios he has been able to explore.

Qavavau Manumie’s prints, along with his contemporaries like Annie Pootoogook, is working to subvert Inuit stereotypes. Manumie is part of latest of the second generation of Inuit artists to attract critical acclaim from southern, contemporary art audiences. In 2016, Qavavau Manumie, along with some of his contemporaries, were profiled in the Winnipeg arts magazine, Borders Crossing. Qavavau Manumie’s first solo exhibition of original drawings was held in Toronto in June, 2008. This was followed up by a contemporary art exhibition in Vancouver of 2009.