Naja Rosing-Asvid

Aqipi – til sommerfest (“Aqipi – for the summer party”, not translated into English) is a beautiful picture book by Naja Rosing-Asvid.

Aqipi is a sweet little spirit helper who lives in the spirit world but crosses over to the human world when called by the shaman. One summer Aqipi is called by the shaman during an intense song battle with the great bear hunter from the neighbouring settlement. Although people laugh at how tiny the shaman’s spirit helper is, Aqipi is so spiritually strong that the shaman wins.

While in the human world, Aqipi experiences many things at the summer settlement. The first is that he’s nearly hit by an arrow. There are children playing mums, dads, and children. There is a summer party with food and drum dancing. In keeping with tradition, prodigal stories about hunting are told These stories are embodied by a magnificent amulet - a polar bear claw. The story provides today’s children with an insight into an ancient culture – its rituals, drum dancing, culinary culture, and tradition of telling stories. Not only that, but we also get an insight into myths that fuel children’s curiosity and inspire them to want to read on and find out more.

The author, Naja Rosing-Asvid, has also illustrated the story. The drawings are detailed and beautiful. The book as a whole vividly conveys ancient Greenlandic culture and can be enjoyed by children of all ages. 

Naja Rosing-Asvid was born in 1966 and trained as an architect before becoming a self-taught artist. She has published a total of three children’s books. Aqipi - den lille hjælpeånd (in English Aqipi – The Tiny Spirit Helper, Milik, 2012, translated by Grace J. Heindorf Nielsen) was published in 2012, followed by Ivalo og Minik (Ivalo and Minik, Milik, 2013) in 2013. In 2014 Naja Rosing-Asvid was appointed cultural ambassador for the Municipality of Semersooq.