Ningiukulu Teevee
Ningiukulu is one of the most versatile and intelligent graphic artists to emerge from the Kinngait Studios. In the fall of 2009, Ningiukulu ’s first children’s book was published by Groundwood Books. Entitled Alego, it is an autobiographical story of a young girl named Alego who goes clamdigging with her grandmother for the first time and, along the way, discovers all of the wonders of the seashore. The book was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s illustration.
Since her first prints appeared in the collection in 2004, Ningiukulu has been one of Kinngait’s studio’s most celebrated artists. She has a comprehensive knowledge of Inuit legends and a fine sense of design and composition. These elements that have made many of her prints highly sought after by collectors. Ningiukulu has had numerous solo shows of her bold and resplendent drawings and some of her work has been featured in exhibitions in major public galleries and museums.
Born May 27, 1963, Ningiukulu is the daughter of Joanasie Salomonie (deceased) and his wife Kanajuk. Her father, Joanasie, was a community leader and much loved in Cape Dorset for his sense of humour, mischief and compassion.
Ningiukulu Teevee is a talented graphic artist and writer based in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Teevee shares her unique perspective on historical and contemporary Inuit culture through both her visual art and writing. In particular, her ability to capture and distil stories into drawings and prints is part of what makes Teevee’s work so popular. She is noted for her frequent and playful translation of traditional stories into dynamic compositions.
In her work You Know You’re Inuk When (2016) a raven is captured in the process of kicking off its rubber boots. With one boot off a foot, it is revealed that the bird has used bright yellow Home Hardware bags to provide an extra layer of protection against wet feet. Teevee injects the pragmatic use of available materials depicted in this work with a sense of humour of about the elements of southern culture that have infiltrated the North. Teevee’s playful graphics were also included in her first children’s book Alego, published in 2009. Alego is a story both written and illustrated by Teevee that recalls the experience of digging for clams by the shore with her grandmother.
Since 2004 Teevee’s work has been included in the annual Cape Dorset Print Collection, and in 2006 Feheley Fine Arts hosted her inaugural solo exhibition Ningiukulu Teevee: Drawings. Teevee’s work has been featured in many publications including the Inuit Art Quarterly, which has included her drawings on the cover twice. In the Winter 2018 issue of the IAQ, Teevee’s work was included in the feature story on “Snap! Crackle! Inuit Pop Art” that examines how Inuit artists negotiate the continuous influx of southern culture in the North. Teevee’s works have been featured in numerous exhibitions including Dorset Seen at the Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, ON, in 2013 and a solo show organized by the Winnipeg Art Gallery at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC, in 2017. Major public institutions that have collected Teevee’s work include the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba.
(Information provided by Dorset Fine Arts and the Inuit Art Foundation.)
