Arctic Bay artist honoured with Northwestel’s new directory cover

Nunavummiut will see the Communicator by Arctic Bay artist Kataisee Attagutsiak on the cover of the 2015-2016 telephone directory. (IMAGE COURTESY OF NORTHWESTEL)

The cover of the 2015-16 Northwestel Directory will feature a painting, the Communicator, by Arctic Bay artist Kataisee Attagutsiak, the winner of this year’s cover art competition for Nunavut.

“We loved the Communicator for the way it drew upon both the artist’s personal story and the larger mythology of the Inuit people for inspiration. We also knew that the painting’s clear and striking visual elements would reproduce beautifully on the cover of the directory,” said Bertrand Poisson, Northwestel’s general manager for Nunavut, in a March 17 news release.

The Communicator depicts a mythical Inuk mermaid, Taliilajuq, who lives beneath the sea and wears an amauti that serves as a beacon to nature’s sea creatures.

Attagutsiak’s painting — an acrylic on canvas — shows the mermaid with a drum in one hand, a baton in the other, as four ringed seals and two giant jellyfish swim around her.

Representatives from Northwestel’s Community Investment department selected Attagutsiak’s winning entry for the 2015-16 Nunavut directory cover in consultation with Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association’s executive director Rowena House, the release said.

Attagutsiak was born in Arctic Bay — the 12th of 14 children in her family, said Northwestel.

She eventually moved to Kugluktuk where she was adopted by the Ayalik family.

Now 50 and the mother of two adult children, she has returned to Arctic Bay to care for her 95-year-old mother and pursue an Inuit language consulting business. Attagutsiak travels frequently throughout Nunavut to work as a translator, terminologist, teacher and researcher for the territorial government.

“I have been painting Taliilajuq for over 20 years,” Attagutsiak said in the release. “My mother Qaapik is the one who inspires me to paint beautiful amautis. I have been watching her all my life bringing life to beautiful baby carriers. I am so excited and can’t wait to get a hold of a telephone book!”

The new 2015-16 Nunavut directories will be available soon at directory pick-up locations in communities throughout Nunavut, Northwestel said.

For 30 years, Northwestel has invited northern artists to submit their work for a chance to appear on the covers of directories for the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Northern British Columbia/Yukon. Each winning artist receives $3,000 — a 50 per cent increase from previous years.