Ikumagialiit
IKUMAGIALIIT – ᐃᑯᒪᒋᐊᓖᑦ (those that need fire)
“Ikumagialiit is an improvisational, elastic performance that is an intense, beautiful, and terrifying experience”. “Each of the performers is, in and of themselves, a marvel.”
LAAKKULUK WILLIAMSON BATHORY is an artist that applies her study of uaajeerneq (Greenlandic mask dancing) and understandings of Inuit philosophies into many genres, from performance art and theatre to writing and curatorial work. Co-winner of the 2018 Dora Award for most outstanding play (Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools) and of the inaugural Kenojuaq Ashevak Memorial Award from the Inuit Art Foundation, Laakkuluk is the first Artistic Director of Qaggiavuut, a nonprofit society in Nunavut supporting Inuit artists and advocating for a Nunavut performing arts centre. Laakkuluk lives in Iqaluit with her husband and three children. Photo by Jamie Griffiths
JAMIE GRIFFITHS is a digital artist, performer, and filmmaker. Jamie emigrated to British Columbia in 1989 from the UK, travelling widely with projects before moving to Nunavut in 2015. Early hardcore photography in the LGBTQI cultures of the 1980’s and 90’’s morphed into experimental film installations and projections in theatre, opera, new music and dance. Jamie uses custom and hacked technologies to dig into humanity’s failings and triumphs on topics of identity, colonialism, transparency and displacement. Projects with Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory include Silaup Putunga (Tunnirrusiangit) at the Art Gallery of Ontario (permanent collection), Timiga Nunalu, Sikulu (exhibiting in #CallResponse and Among All These Tundras, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery ). Solo projects include White Liar (De La Warr Pavilion, UK) and Wild New Territories (Foundling Museum, UK, Berlin Botanical Gardens, Simon Fraser Gallery, BC). Projection designs include The Edward Curtis Project and The Road Forward by Marie Clements (Ottawa & Vancouver), Language is a Virus from Outer Space by Gavin Bryars/Richard Strange (Queen Elisabeth Hall, UK) and Kiviuq Returns by Qaggiavuut (National Arts Centre, Ottawa). Photo by Sheila Papa
CRIS DERKSEN In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — get labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. The Juno nominated classically trained cellist and composer braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music. As composer Cris has a foot in many worlds, 2019 compositions include: Maada’ookii Songlines, a Mass Choral event for 200 singers commissioned by Luminato; Rebellion, a short symphonic piece commissioned by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra; and Iron Peggy, A Vancouver Childrens Fest Performance. Photo by Tanja Tiziana
CHRISTINE TOOTOO is an enigmatic and captivating actor in film and theatre, recently starring and collaborating in Kiviuq Returns, Qaggiavuut’s Inuit theatre epic that toured southern and northern Canada in 2017, and starred as Ani in the feature film Iqaluit by Quebec Director Benoit Pilon in 2016. Christine has toured as a drummer and throat singer with the Inuksuk Drum Dancers to Ottawa, Iqaluit and Greenland, and she is a button accordion player, mentoring with renowned Nunavut masters Simeonie Keenainak, Zeebedee Nungaq and Jeannie Nungaq. Most recently, Christine has facilitated youth workshops throughout Nunavut in the Inuit performing arts, and performed in Unikkaaqtuat (The Old Stories) presented by the NAC’s Indigenous Theatre and supported by the NAC’s National Creation Fund, with a nine city tour across Canada. Photo by David Kakuktinniq Jr