91原创

A collaborative project of both research and art about climate change on the lower Fraser River watershed has resulted in an exhibit titled Upstream/Downriver: Walking the st蓱l虛蓹w虛 Watershed at the 91原创 Centennial Museum.

The new display takes audiences on a journey of walking, listening, and learning.

Artists Alysha Creighton, Erica Grimm, and Joshua Hale have combined video, sound, installation, and drawing to connect viewers to the realities of climate impacts in the region.

Their works also give voice to the river, pointing the way to how society may reimagine its relationship with the land and learn to walk in a good way on this territory 鈥渨e call home,鈥� the trio shared.

Commonly referred to as the Fraser River, st蓱l虛蓹w虛 is the h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 word for 鈥渂ig river.鈥�

The artists and project Siy谩:m Patricia Victor walked and listened to experts about the st蓱l虛蓹w虛 and how climate change is affecting the region, including the thoughts of Sesmelot (Fern Gabriel), Kwantlen Language Keeper, Andrew Victor, Chief of Xwch铆y貌:m Nation, and Annelyn Victor, Xwch铆y貌:m Youth.

Their voices joined with other experts in the areas of geology, biology, math, poetry, urban geography, and philosophy, including Heesoon Bai, Katharine Bubel, David Clements, Tim Cooper, David Jordan, Maxwell Ofosuhene, Sam Pimentel, and Bruce Shelvey to create a soundscape for the exhibition experience.

The sounds of the river are carefully blended with their words.

鈥淭he importance of holding these voices as equal was our aim,鈥� artist Erica Grimm reflected.

鈥淏ut all of these voices agreed that climate change is serious, human caused, and the time to act is now.鈥�

Grimm鈥檚 work maps the bloodline of the st蓱l虛蓹w虛, tracing lost tributaries and the coming flood lines of the lower Fraser River watershed.

Another piece by Grimm and Tracie Stewart suspends bandaged cedar roots and willow branches from the museum鈥檚 ceiling, drawing a river through the gallery space.

Creighton鈥檚 video work immerses viewers in the river, seeking to dissolve boundaries between human and environment.

Hale鈥檚 work explores the potential effects of climate change on the region, imagining multiple possible futures; red string connects his pieces like an evidence board, frantically trying to find solutions, while the way forward for humanity remains unclear.

Upstream/Downriver: Walking the st蓱l虛蓹w虛 Watershed is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The exhibit is open at 91原创 Centennial Museum until Feb. 6.