Tiffany Ayalik in Residence

Description:

During her six-month residency at Western Front, Ayalik developed a new multimedia performance revitalizing the songs of her Inuinnait ancestors and community. She studied a collection of songs that were transcribed, notated, and documented through wax cylinder recordings by the anthropologist Diamond Jenness during the 1913–18 Canadian Arctic Expedition, and worked with Inuinnait elders to further her understanding of the language. Using multi-channel audio and live vocal performance, she reinterpreted six songs as a new composition. Artist T. Erin Gruber created accompanying projected images inspired by the changing seasons and the natural environment of the North.