Kattajjak: Nunavik-style Throat-Singers

Back by popular demand, the Kattajjak: Nunavik-style Throat-Singers Nina Segalowitz of Fort Smith, NWT, and Lydia Etok of Kangiqsualujjuaq, Quebec, will be the Gallery’s featured cultural performers.

The artists will engage in two short presentations throughout the day, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and end with a full scale interactive performance at 6 p.m. of their highly acclaimed Throat-Singing. Representing one of the purest and most fascinating traditions of Inuit culture, their movements and sound are mesmerizing. Two women adorned in their winter dress lock arms, manipulate air to produce exciting harmonies from their lungs and lips, rock back and forth and eventually end with an inevitable burst of laughter. Whoever is the first to laugh, and sometimes it is up to the audience to decide, loses the round. Keep in mind, this beautiful cultural duet is actually a contest for entertainment!

In addition to a fascinating Throat-Singing performance on Saturday night, Segalowitz and Etok will encourage the audience to participate in the fun, tell stories and also explain the delicate balance of their two important worlds; traditional life in the arctic and modern life “down south.” This delicate weave has created very impressive and captivating journeys for these two Inuit women.