Qavavau Manumie became an artist member of the West Baffin Eskimo cooperative studio in Kinngait (formerly Cape Dorset) in 1988, first as a printmaker in lithography and then in stonecut. Qavavau is the latest among the second-generation Inuit artists to attract critical acclaim from the contemporary arts audience in the South and internationally.

Qavavau Manumie is a Kinngait (Cape Dorset) based artist in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. He is known for his intricate compositions in ink and coloured pencil that are often amusing in their depictions of Inuit mythology, Arctic fauna and contemporary experiences of Inuit life. When he was a child, Manumie’s father told him tales of the Inuralaat, or little people, warning him to keep away if he saw their tracks. Manumie’s drawings sometimes depict the Inuralaat in relation to everyday objects such as a harpoon, tools or a lamp. 

Originally presented as part of the 23rd Biennale of Sydney (12 March – 13 June 2022), Manumie’s series of drawings are both literal and surreal in nature with strong environmental reflections.