Nimitaau: Fiddle Dancing Through Scots and Eeyou Cultures
11 July–30 September 2018
Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen
Curated by Frances Wilkins, Jamie Stevens, Jen Shaw
Exhibition Opening: 15:30–16:30 Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Music, particularly drumming and singing, has long held an important role among the people in the Eeyou Istchee region of northern Quebec, where the Eeyouch have inhabited the land for thousands of years. The Eeyouch adopted fiddle music and fiddle-dancing when they met British fur traders from the early 1700s. The Eeyouch fashioned their own form of fiddle music and dance from the traditions of their past and new influences from across the sea. In this exhibition, a first-time collaboration between the Elphinstone Institute and the Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute in Quebec, we will explore the music and dancing of the past and present, hear individual stories from Eeyou, Moose Cree, and Scots performers, and take an audio-visual journey into the world of Eeyou fiddle-dance performance. Nimitaau. Let’s Dance!
