Ningiukulu Teevee

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 distill 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.

Describing what keeps her inspired to make art, Teevee says, “I felt that I needed to keep our stories alive—our Inuit myths and legends that were told by our Elders, like Mialia Jaw. Those became the main source of my inspiration for the subjects of my art. But some of my drawings are also about everyday life up here in the North.”

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 about the elements of southern culture that have infiltrated the North [1]. 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 [2]. The story vividly describes and illustrates all the different sea life the young girl discovers and learns about over the course of the story.

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 [3]. 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 across Canada and the United States including Ningiukulu Teevee: Chronicles for the Curious at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2023), Dorset Seen at the Carleton University Art Gallery (2013) and a 2017 solo show organized by the Winnipeg Art Gallery at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC [4]. Major public institutions that have collected Teevee’s work include the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. 

In September 2023 Teevee won the 2023 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award.