Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember

Description:

Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember was a thirty-minute multimedia performance by Tiffany Ayalik, developed during her six-month residency at Western Front. Ayalik’s performance combined her live solo vocals with octophonic (8-channel) sound, incorporating archival audio recordings of songs performed by Ayalik’s Inuinnait ancestors and community. Imagery inspired by the changing seasons and the natural environment of the North by artist T. Erin Gruber was projected onto Ayalik’s set, which resembles an icy landscape. These elements combined to form an immersive environment, in which the audience was seated in a circle, facing Ayalik at the centre. Through the work, Ayalik hopes to provide a possible pathway to embolden others to reclaim and relearn languages that could soon be lost.

Curated by Aram Bajakian.

Acknowledgements:

This work could not have been created without the help of many people across borders, generations, and centuries. Quana to Alice, Agnes and Robert Ayalik, Jarrett Martineau, Inuksuk Mackay, and the Kitikmeot Heritage Society. 
–Tiffany Ayalik

The following recordings were used in creation of this project, and can be found at the Canadian Museum of History. 

Arctic - Mackenzie and Copper - Music & shamanistic utterance, Diamond Jenness, 1915-1916, Canadian Museum of History, IV-D-2T

Arctic - Mackenzie and Copper - Music, Diamond Jenness, 1915-1916, Canadian Museum of History, IV-D-3T

Arctic - Mackenzie and Copper - Music, Diamond Jenness, 1915-1916, Canadian Museum of History, IV-D-4T

Arctic - Mackenzie and Copper - Music, Diamond Jenness, 1915-1916, Canadian Museum of History, IV-D-5T

Presented with the support of the Government of Canada and SOCAN Foundation.