Aalaapi features Inuit women presented for who they are, and not merely as representatives of their Inuit identity. Why is that important?

Nancy Saunders: We must get beyond the image of the Inuit as stoic hunters and gatherers. They are also businessmen, artists, social workers, single mothers, modern people who travel. I think we need to embrace both our traditional culture and modernity, to know our own history so that we can better understand our parents and ancestors, what they experienced, so that we can be proud of who we are and have an informed vision for the future. The more there is a true reflection of modern Inuit, the less prejudice they will face. I am half Inuit and half Québécoise and experienced discrimination because I am not white enough nor Inuit enough. I lived with shame and hatred regarding my culture when I was a child. I later recognized the importance of my culture, and that’s what saved me.

A lot of workers come to the North with very little knowledge of our culture, resulting in a dialogue of the deaf — no one is singing from the same hymn book. It’s better to admit you know nothing about the Other, but are open and curious and willing to interact. As an artist I want to build that bridge between my people and the outside world, to try to make people aware of the problems we face, and also to share what I’ve learned in order to encourage my people to move forward. Aalaapi is a good reflection of the North, but we must not lose sight of the fact that we have a lot of serious social problems in our communities. Aalaapi is an opportunity to open up the conversation.

Aalappi began as a radio documentary. Why did you choose radio to tell this tale of young women and their experience of the North?

Laurence Dauphinais: Community radio plays an important and special role in the lives of the Inuit. It is a social connector that allows anyone to send messages–right down to someone calling in because he has lost his house keys! This project talks about listening and silence, and audio connects with listeners in ways that an image does not. The medium of sound allows us to dodge a certain cognitive bias.

Marie-Laurence Rancourt: Radio is extraordinary. It records both voices and silences, thoughts as they take shape. A voice is revealing in that it has a layer just waiting to be unfurled, laid bare. The documentary is a certain portrayal of the North, but goes beyond that. It presents a powerful reflection of our times that extends beyond the northern context. It is a reflection on what it means to speak up and be heard. What comes through in the voices of the women whenever they speak is as important as what is said, which is something that radio reveals in striking fashion. There is a lot of information in their hesitations, doubts, omissions of certain words.

Aalaapi invites the listener to be attentive. We have a habit, to my mind spurious, of thinking of radio as a medium of speech, but it is also a medium conducive to listening, to keeping quiet, stepping aside, paying attention. I find every word in the documentary to be precious. I have the impression that all the voices draw part of their strength from the inexpressible, which gives them depth.

Did the issue of the legitimacy of whites representing the North crop up?

L. D.: It was something we were constantly discussing, a demanding but necessary consideration. We always had to be sure that we were collaborating respectfully and as equals, that we adapted to others and they adapted to us. It is important for northern communities to take back ownership of traditional cultural forms of expression that have been forbidden or stolen from them.

Power being based in the south, it is necessary and important that northern cultures be duly represented. I wanted to work from a perspective of empathy, rather than remaining ignorant and unaware. All of us wanted to go beyond any sensationalist, stereotyped representations of the North.

We created a set design consisting of a house with a window, a house where two Inuit women live. That view provides limited access to certain aspects, like a metaphor for the work required to access a different culture. For example, when the actresses engage in throat singing in the house we can hear them, but we don’t see them. They are singing not for the performance, but for themselves. The challenge was to create an encounter between the audience and the two women, one that favoured relaxation and openness. The piece allowed us to question contemporary Quebec theatre and Quebec society by integrating the reality of people who share a territory, but whose mutual interests and baggage are completely different. The dominant French-language culture has been oppressing for some. It is our duty to assume responsibility for that state of affairs.

Interview with Nancy Saunders + Laurence Dauphinais + Marie-Laurence Rancourt | 2021

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