Throat Singers

Like Drum Dancing, Throat Singing is another traditional form of music, this one practiced by women. The women stand close to each other, holding on to one another’s arms in order to perform this unaccompanied duet consisting of rhythmic sounds. One would start and the other would respond, swaying back and forth, going faster and faster until one of the singers cannot keep up, generally resulting in laughter. This sculpture captures women in traditional dress, both likely with babies in their closed amauti hoods. One woman is captured mid-sound with her mouth open. This is an appealing sculpture in which the closeness of the women is apparent through their mirrored, rounded forms which, make the effect of the sculpture, despite the subject, seem almost serene.

Nunavik Region: 
Sculptures from this region, going back to the early days of the contemporary period of Inuit art, have distinctive characteristics in both style and subject matter. Stone across Nunavik varies from a soft ‘soapstone’ that could be polished or left unpolished to a beautiful veined hard stone. Artists tended to add details to their sculptures, either by contrasting polished and unpolished area or by adding antler or ivory to achieve as muchrealism as possible. These realistic works served a narrative purpose; artists wanted toshow all aspects of traditional life.