Qilaat means drum.
QILAAT.org is founded by Varna Marianne Nielsen, who is also a researcher of the immaterial cultural heritage of Greenland, drumdancing and drumsinging.
The purpose of Qilaat is serving as a knowledge centre, for the Greenlandic (tivaneq inngernerlu) drumdancing and drumsinging. Furthermore to create awareness of the practice, aswell as to revive the spiritual, social, intellectual and artistic heritage, as a lived practice aswell as to narrate the understanding of the practice in a current context from an indigenous and practitioners perspective.

The immaterial cultural heritage is facing critical consequences with every generation that is not practicing it.
In great parts of Greenland Inngerneq has been fading towards silence, since the practice was banned during colonization almost 300 years ago. In response and to focus on preservation and revival, we founded a union for drumdancers in Nuuk “Peqatigiiffik Inngertartut” in 2014 and initiated Drum Dance Gatherings with participants of Inuit practitioners from all Arctic regions. This has given seeds to many new practitioners and created a curiousity and renewed focus towards the practice in Greenland, but there is more work ahead.

Center for qilaat:
Drumdancing, drumsinging & wellbeing

The purpose of QILAAT is to preserve and the holistic approach to life with special focus on wellbeing, which is within the practice in itself and furthermore to create space and access to knowledge of our sacred tradition, in our current context.

Deep withing our wide Greenlandic Cultural Heritage is a long tradition of drum dancing and drum singing, which is not just an entertaining artform but also a way of communicating to achieve somatic and mental well-being, emotional balance, and a connection to our spirituality. More than performance, these ancient traditions passed down from generation to generation are the essence of Greenlandic Inuit culture: they tell us who we are; what is important to us; and how we relate to others.
Since UNESCO enlisted drumdancing and drumsinging on the list of Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021, the world is beginning to appreciate and understand the importance of keeping these traditions alive. Not only should we seek to preserve it but aim for a deeper understanding and innovative development by advocating for the practitioners. The revival and preservation of the practice of drum dancing & drumsinging, has a huge potential to return as a method to healing, reconnecting to our cultural identity, to regain strength in the current and globally influenced Greenlandic society, through Inuit-led and culturally grounded approaches. Reviving traditional practices is no small thing. But we need it to restore ourselves. Both traditional drum dancing and singing, is a great tool in passing on life stories along with ancestral stories and that way, connect and continue the making of history, from our own perspective.

This is ours to share and care for!

QILAAT will contribute to the preservation, development and revival of our immaterial cultural heritage far into the future. 

-Varna Marianne Nielsen