Ashley Qilavaq-Savard

Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is an Inuk artist and storyteller born and raised in Iqaluit, NU. Qilavaq-Savard studied acting at Vancouver Film School and appeared in the film "Two Lovers and a Bear" (2016) and the television show "Qanurli" (2017), as well as being an emerging filmmaker. She believes in the importance of sharing stories and preserving Inuit legends and myths that have been passed down for hundreds of years, and continues this in her work [1]. She also designs jewelry for her company Asli Savard Creative [2]. 

Qilavaq-Savard works in many mediums. She grew up hearing Inuktitut spoken around her but did not speak it. Her way of learning the language and connecting with her culture was to begin to write poetry that encouraged learning new words and working with them creatively [3]. Her influences include people such as Taqralik Partridge and Laakkuluk Wlliamson Bathory, who inspired Qilavaq-Savard to be a spoken word poet: "To see other Indigenous women so confidently and so strongly state their identity in their own unique way inspired me to do it." [4]

Qilavaq-Savard believes there are many different ways to tell stories and that is why it is important to work across mediums. She has performed in the Labrador Creative Arts Festival and the St. John's Storytelling Festival.