Inuit-style throat-singing duo Piqsiq performs live at the Shadbolt Centre, October 13
The pair’s eerily moving music is a radical act of decolonization and cultural revitalization
Piqsiq.
The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents Piqsiq on October 13 at 8 pm
HAUNTING, OTHERWORLDLY, ENTRANCING, and eerie: these are a few words that describe the sheer vocal magic that Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay create together as Piqsiq. The siblings perform Inuit-style throat singing inspired by their roots in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions and their childhood in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
The duo is invigorating an art form that was regarded as an “evil” practice by the Canadian government and Catholic church during colonization. Their dedication to throat singing is not merely an artistic pursuit, however; the sisters sing as a fierce political act of decolonization and cultural revitalization.
Piqsiq takes its name from the Inuktut word for a type of storm in which winds blow in such a way that seems as if the snow is falling back up toward the sky. The term reflects the feelings of confusion the two had around their identity and mixed ancestry while growing up, navigating two vastly different worlds. Ayalik and Mackay continue to embrace the joys and challenges of mixed Indigeneity, finding solace in the idea that two halves make a whole—and in mixing things up.
Having performed traditional styles of throat singing for more than two decades, the artists have recently began incorporating new technology into their work, including live improvisational looping. With spontaneous compositions, each show is unique. The through line in Piqsiq’s musical journey is the influence of the natural world around them.
Read more about Piqsiq here.
More information about the show is at the Shadbolt Centre.
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