The date of Joe's birth is placed in 1893 or 1899 or 1906 near Kuujjuaraapik (Great Whale River).

Common themes in Joe's works included hunting trips and migration scenes. Joe is perhaps best known for his work called "Migration" which portrays one of his childhood experiences, when families set sail in an umiak (large sealskin boat) to travel to better hunting grounds. This scene was repeatedly depicted in Joe's carvings, drawings and prints. 

"He left a legacy of sculpture, prints and drawings, which were unique in the way he crafted even the most mundane subject. His owls were horned 'Joe' owls, his human figures, animals and hunting scenes were instantly distinguishable, as were the haunting 'migration' boat scenes, whether rendered as drawings, prints or sculptures. Perhaps redundant as identification, but part of his enormous charm, was the inevitable 'JOE' (sometimes backwards) carved into his stones, almost as part of the image. 

His contributions to editioned print collections started with the initial release in 1962 and continued without a break through the next 10 collections for a total of some 70 stonecut prints. He cut his own stones and probably tried his hand at printing, too, on occasion."

Joe's cousin, Davidialuk Alasua Amittu was also a renowned Puvirnituq artist. The two men were known in the community as great storytellers and they both produced many sculptures in the 1950s and graphics in the 1960s. Both men enjoyed long and fruitful careers and passed away within months of each other in 1976. Joe's daughter, Sarah Joe Qinuajua is also an artist in Puvirnituq.

* Sandra Barz, "Canadian Inuit Print Artist/Printer Biographies" (New York: Arts and Culture of the North, 1990), page 65

Exhibitions

• Alaska Eskimo Dolls/Inuit Prints, Provincial Museum of Alberta, sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts
• Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum
• Arctic Travel, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers
• Arctic Wildlife: The Art of the Inuit, Musee des Beaux-Arts de Montreal
• By the Light of the Qulliq: Eskimo Life in the Canadian Arctic, Smithsonian Institution, A travelling exhibition of Inuit art from the Feheley Collection
• Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray, Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State University
• Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival, Alaska Methodist University Galleries
• Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, presented at the General Assembly Building, United Nations
• Contemporary Inuit Art, National Gallery of Canada
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Drawings and Sculpture by Joe Talirunili and Davidialuk Amittu, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Each Depends on the Other, Houston North Gallery
• Early and Contemporary Sculpture and Prints by Well-Known Inuit Artists, Arctic Artistry
• Eskimo Art, Queens Museum
• Eskimo Art in Northern Quebec, presented by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec at "Man and His World"
• Eskimo Carvings and Prints from the Collection of York University, Art Gallery of York University
• Eskimo Narrative, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Eskimo Sculpture, Winnipeg Art Gallery presented at the Manitoba Legislative Building
• Espaces Inuit, Maison Hamel-Bruneau
• Esquimaux, Peuple du Quebec, Musee du Quebec
• Exhibition of Inuit Art, Harbourfront Centre organized by the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
• First Annual Collectors' Invitational Exhibition, Inuk 1/Eskimo Art
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (first exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (second exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario
• Hunter of the Sacred Game: Traditional Life on the Land, Organized by the Arts and Learning Services Foundation
• Hunters of Old, Inukshuk Galleries Inc.
• Hunting in the Arctic, Alberta Provincial Museum and Archives
• Im Schatten der Sonne: Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada/In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Inspiration Four Decades of Sculpture, Marion Scott Gallery
• Inuit Art From the Glenbow Collection, Glenbow Museum
• Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
• Inuit Art: New Loans and Acquisitions, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, University of Guelph
• Inuit Art: Tradition and Regeneration, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare Prints from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry
• Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Inuit Masterworks: Selections from the Collection of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, McMichael Canadian Collection
• Inuit Survival, Enook Galleries, Waterloo, Ontario Presented at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery
• Joe Talirunili, Canadiana Galleries
• Joe Talirunili from Povungnituk: Sculpture, Prints, Drawings, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Les Inuit du Nouveau-Quebec, Musee du Quebec
• Mythmakers: Davidialuk and Talirunili, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, Burnaby Art Gallery
• On Collectors and Collecting: Selections from the Herb & Cece Schreiber Family Collection, The Art Gallery of Hamilton
• Povungnituk, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Povungnituk Print Collection *62, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *64, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *65, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *66, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *68, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *69 (for catalogue see Povungnituk Prints 1960-1970 Retrospective), (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *72, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *75, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *76, (annual collection)
• Povungnituk Print Collection *77, (annual collection)
• Primitive Art from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry
• Recent Stone Sculpture from Arctic Quebec, Arctic Artistry
• Sanaugasi Takujaksat: A Travelling Celebration of Inuit Sculpture, Presented by Canadian Arctic Producers Ltd., with the assistance of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa
• Sculpture and New Acquisitions to the Inuit Art Collection, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
• Sculpture Inuit 25 Years After, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture of the Inuit: Masterwork Exhibitors of the Canadian Arctic, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, Canadian Eskimo Arts Council
• Selections from the Toronto-Dominion Collection of Eskimo Art, National Arts Centre
• Stones, Bones, Cloth, and Paper: Inuit Art in Edmonton Collections, Edmonton Art Gallery
• Stories in Stone: Soapstone Sculptures From Northern Quebec and Kenya, La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec
• Takamit - Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada, Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
• The Arctic/L'Artique, UNESCO
• The Art of the Eskimo, Newman Galleries
• The Art of the Eskimo, Newman Galleries
• The Bessie Bulman Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Early Years - Fifties and Sixties, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• The Early Years: Sculpture from the 50's and 60's, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the National Museum of Man
• The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario, University of Guelph
• The Lindsay and Swartz Collections: New Acquisitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Spirit of the Land, The Koffler Gallery
• The Tactile Eskimo Art Collection/ Collection de sculptures esquimaudes appreciables par le toucher, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, in cooperation with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind
• Things Made by Inuit, La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec
• Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art, Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec
• [Inuit Art Exhibition], Whitby Arts Incorporated, The Station Gallery

Collections

• Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor
• Art Gallery of York University, Downsview
• Avataq Cultural Institute, Montreal
• Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
• Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Confederation des caisses populaires et d'economie Desjardins, Levis
• Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
• Eskimo Museum, Churchill
• Glenbow Museum, Calgary
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury
• McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
• Musee d'Art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal
• Musee de la civilisation, Quebec City
• Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal
• Musee du Quebec, Quebec City
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Saputik Museum, Povungnituk
• Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection, Toronto
• University of New Brunswick, Fredericton
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
• York University, Toronto

Publications

• BAKER LAKE DRAWINGS., Author: Winnipeg Art Gallery, Publication: Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1972)
• CAPE DORSET — A Decade of Eskimo Prints and Recent Sculpture = Dix ans d'estampes esquimaudes et sculptures recentes, Author: National Gallery of Canada, Publication: Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada (1967)
• ESKIMO SCULPTURE: Selections from the Twomey Collection., Author: Winnipeg Art Gallery, Publication: Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1972)
• INUIT GALLERY OF VANCOUVER PRESENTS AN EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURES BY OSITOK IPEELEE, RCA, Author: Inuit Gallery of Vancouver., Publication: Inuit Gallery of Vancouver. (c.) Inuit Gallery of Vamcouver, 1993. (1993)
• SEEPEE IPELLIE — Recent Sculpture, Author: Ipeelee, Seepee, Publication: Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited. (1981)
• THE PEOPLE WITHIN = LES GENS DE L'INTERIEUR., Author: Art Gallery of Ontario, Publication: Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario. (1976)