WESTERN FRONT – Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember

A photograph of Tiffany Ayalik performing Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember at Western Front. Ayalik is wearing an amaut – traditional Inuit woman’s coat – with black-and-white patterns, and a white rope-like belt tied across her chest and around her waist. Her arms are stretched out toward the camera and her face is tilted down.

Western Front is pleased to present Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember, a multimedia performance by Tiffany Ayalik.

During her six-month residency at Western Front, Ayalik developed a new body of work 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 30-minute composition. In collaboration with the artist T. Erin Gruber, who created projected images inspired by the changing seasons and the natural environment of the North, for Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember Ayalik has created an affecting immersive environment. Through the work, Ayalik hopes to provide a possible pathway to embolden others to reclaim and relearn languages that could soon be lost.

Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember will be presented by Ayalik live over two days in Western Front’s Grand Luxe Hall.

A photograph of Tiffany Ayalik performing Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember at Western Front. The photograph is taken from a bird’s-eye point of view above Ayalik as she kneels on the sculptural set for her performance, a white rectangular shape resembling snowy ground or floating ice. She wears a white wool amaut – traditional Inuit woman’s coat. Ayalik tilts her head up with eyes closed, her elbows outstretched, and her hands resting on her cheeks.

About the Artist

Tiffany Ayalik is an Inuk performer from Kugluktuk, Nunavut, and was born and raised in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories. Combining knowledge learned from her elders with her work as an actor and singer, Tiffany creates unique and powerful performances that include theatre, storytelling, music, and education. Tiffany produces film and TV with her producing partner Caroline Cox and their company, Copper Quartz Media, and produces music with her sister Inuksuk Mackay as the duo PIQSIQ.

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.

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.

Tiffany Ayalik, Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember (2021)

Tiffany Ayalik, Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember (2021)
Tiffany Ayalik, Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember (2021)

Tiffany Ayalik, Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember (2021)
Tiffany Ayalik, Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember (2021)

Tiffany Ayalik, Itqaqhaijuq / Tries to Remember (2021)
Tiffany Ayalik Interview. Recorded at Western Front May 5, 2021.

Tiffany Ayalik Interview. Recorded at Western Front May 5, 2021.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.