09. Aqiggiit (Ptarmigans) - 2026 CAPE DORSET Annual Print Collection
2026 CAPE DORSET Annual Print Collection
Official release date for sale, Saturday October 17, 2026
To inquire, contact 416.921.1721 or shop@craftontario.com
QAVAVAU MANUMIE
Aqiggiit (Ptarmigans)
Stonecut & Stencil
Paper: Kizuki Kozo Natural
Printer: Qavavau Manumie
25.3 x 34 cm
$350
Dorset ID # 26-09
Qavavau Manumie ᑲᕙᕙᐅ ᒪᓄᒥ 1958-
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.
Dorset Fine Arts was established in Toronto in 1978 as the wholesale marketing division of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. The Co-operative is in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut and is unique among the Arctic Co-operatives for its focus on the arts and artists of the community. Dorset Fine Arts was established to develop and serve the market for Inuit fine art produced by the artist members of the Co-operative.