Annie Manning

Annie Manning, CM, is a textile artist and educator from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Learning to sew by watching her mother, Udluriak, at a young age, Manning now shares her skills and knowledge with younger generations through sewing workshops and school activities.

Manning prides herself on making her dolls distinctive from others by using wooden pieces for their heads and embellishing their traditional clothing with tiny, colourful beads [1]. After sculpting the facial features with special hand tools, she carefully paints in the details and adds tresses of yarn for the doll’s hair. Manning has honed her skills over the years studying those around her to ensure her creations are true to life. This attentive observation appears in the detailed natural expressions, movements, and body shapes of her many dolls.

In addition to her artistic practice, Manning boasts an impressive career as an educator and community leader. In the 1960s she became Kinngait’s first indigenous teacher and the first Inuk Justice of the Peace of Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island), NU [2]. Since retiring from teaching, Manning now makes dolls full time. A number of her pieces have travelled throughout Canada in the 1970s Crown-Indigenous Department show, The Things that Make Us Beautiful, and are housed within the Canada Council Art Bank collection in Ottawa, ON.

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Accomplishments:
2004: Appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for a lifetime of distinguished service to her community.