Latest news with #PIQSIQ
CBC
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Why PIQSIQ wrote a song about Mahaha, the Inuit tickling demon
The Inuit throat singing duo joins Q's Tom Power to set up a song from their haunting new album, Legends Social Sharing What if the bad guy in your nightmare didn't chase you, but tried to tickle you to death? That's just one of the Inuit legends reimagined by the Inuit throat singing duo PIQSIQ on their haunting new album, Legends. Sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay of PIQSIQ join Tom Power to talk about the record and why they're embracing Inuit traditions in non-traditional ways. Plus, they set up their new song, Mahaha: Tickling Demon. WATCH | Official video for Mahaha: Tickling Demon:
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Throat singing duo PIQSIQ celebrates Inuit culture at Japanese festival
Yellowknife-based throat singing duo PIQSIQ says performing for Japanese fans was a unique celebration of Inuit culture and finding similarities between Arctic and Japanese traditions. Sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik performed in Osaka in June as part of the World Expo. "The culture is so generous and so respectful and open, and it just felt like we were able to talk about our culture and what it's like to be Inuk and living in the North, and a little bit about history in a way that was really celebrating," Ayalik said. "Sometimes when we talk about culture here, there's just like a different context in Canada, and it's always about reconciliation and it can be really heavy." The pair said that travelling to Japan is something they've dreamed of since childhood, and they got to share it with their family as well. Mackay's husband and sons travelled with PIQSIQ to perform demonstrations of Inuit games. Mackay said that some audience members had visited the Arctic or read up on Inuit culture and had lots of questions for them about life in the North. "So that was really cool to know that across the world, there were people who were really interested in culture," she said. Mackay said there were lots of commonalities between Inuit and Japanese cultures too, like respect for elders and children and the value they both place on culture itself. Beyond their performances, the sisters and their family spent time exploring a new country. They said visiting Nara, a city known in part for its temples and the deer that roam around, was one highlight. Ayalik says sharing that with family up North made her laugh. "I sent videos to other family in Nunavut and they're just like 'this food is just walking around,'" she said. The pair said the experience is one they won't soon forget. They hope one day to come back and travel to the north of Japan to collaborate with Ainu singers, a traditional Japanese music. And if it's up to her family, Mackay says that trip could happen before long. "My sons are already trying to learn Japanese on Duolingo," she said.
West Australian
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Insight into Inuk life through a new comedy series by locals
Filmed almost entirely in Iqaluit, Canada's northernmost city and the capital of Nunavut, the Netflix comedy series North Of North was created by Nunavut Inuits Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. To me, it's an extraordinary series. We see remote Inuit live through Inuit eyes, as an optimistic young woman sets about reinventing herself in her little Arctic hometown (where people know each other's business). She gets out form under her domineering husband, a town hero, finds a job and states her independence. Albeit with dry humour. The 2025 series has eight episodes, with hopefully a second series to follow — as it's fresh and unusual, and takes the rest of us into daily life in Nunavut's ice. There's some echo of the humour of Parks And Recreation, but mostly for me the series reveals contemporary Inuit culture and life, the stresses of remote living in a dramatic climate, and the limitations that young people face in such small communities. Carrying the plot is 26-year-old Siaja (played by Anna Lambe, who spent much of her childhood in Iqaluit), a modern Inuk woman living in the town of Ice Cove — which immediately reminds me of the real town of Arctic Cove, in the accompanying story. While the majority of North Of North was filmed in Iqaluit, which is on Baffin Island, some scenes were shot in Ontario. Filming began in March 2024, and ended in mid-June the same year. So, this is a very fresh series. There are 45 Canadian cast members and around 500 took part as background actors (including the mayor of Iqaluit). There were more than 300 Canadian crew members. There's the snow and ice, Ski-Doos and dogs — and beautiful locations, jewellery and fashion. Many costumes are from talented Inuit designers, including Victoria Kakuktinniq (of Victoria's Arctic Fashion), Winifred Nungak, Lavinia Van Heuvelen, Augatnaaq Eccles and Nancy Mike. And there's lots of local music, including contemporary Inuit style throat singing by PIQSIQ, which is duo Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay.
