When Nuka Alice Lund's drums dance, it's not just a performance. Behind her drum song is the deep meaning of wanting listeners to understand.
"People are just entertained because I spend all my time and energy to explain it and also to give me a deep understanding and knowledge of the drum songs I play. Not, "she explained. "People are very interested, but they don't know how to use drums, and many of them don't know the story behind the drum songs we play."
Lund from Shisimiuto, Greenland, will perform a drum dance at the Aria Night Arts Festival in Ikaruit this week, playing her new drum song.
She said she was with other Inuit and was looking forward to listening to their music and seeing their artwork. She is particularly keen to meet other drum dancers, as practice has not yet spread in Greenland.
"I hope you have a good shared experience. Sometimes you don't need words to meet other Inuit. You just look at each other and understand each other deeply. It's great. I'm feeling. "
The Alianait Arts Festival starts on Thursday and runs until July 3rd. 4 days full of concerts, workshops and exhibitions. More than two years after the last festival, executive director Alannah Johnston said the organizational team has high hopes for how it will be done.
One of the big drivers for this year's organizers was to promote indigenous performers.
"I think we're doing a really good job in that part," she said — almost all performers this year are indigenous and the majority are inuit. They include large groups from Greenland and other Scandinavian countries.
According to Johnston, many artists have been collaborating for over a month, revealing the tradition of Arianite, the penultimate day of the festival.
"We put the artist in the room and they came up with something really beautiful, then they put it on stage," she said.
When the festival opens on Thursday, singer-songwriter Brenda Montana will have a pop-up show at the Black Heart Cafe.
From Rankin Inlet, Montana told CBC that she plans to release her first album in mid-July. In the meantime it.
"To be honest, I'm really excited," she said.
"My album is about sending hope, love and awareness to those who are struggling. [It] includes English, Inuktit, Throat songs, and Ayaya songs. "
Putting it together was a special experience, she said — her record label Nunavut-based Hitmakerz sent her to Ottawa, where I was able to meet other Nunavut artists.
She said it's important to sing in both languages as she helps improve Inuktitut. She isn't fluent yet, but her mother is helping her translate her song.
"I feel it's really important to learn because it's kind of lost, and now we're trying to get the language back," she said.
Most of the Alianait Arts Festival events take place in or near the Nakasuk School. A complete list of events can be found on the festival's website.
