Place Based Practices

Description:

An afternoon exploring place-based practices at Maplewood Mudflats that included a conversation with artists Siku Allooloo and Jaime Adams, and curator Paula Booker about their work in the exhibition Storytelling and Stewardship, and a guided tour of the conservation area by Irwin Oostindie and Senaqwila Wyss of Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia. 

Programming began at Corrigan Nature House, where Adams presented a selection of works from her photographic series, The Ecological Influence of Allelopathy (2021–), which documents Maplewood Flats. Adams explained her process of using invasive plant species, saltwater, and freshwater from the area to develop her black-and-white films and colour negatives. She also demonstrated how heavy metals in the water interact with the film emulsion, further relating the site to her practice. 

Allooloo presented a screening and discussion of her experimental documentary, Spirit Emulsion (2022), which was filmed on Super 8 and developed with plant medicines and botanicals collected in Denendeh (Northwest Territories, Canada) where she was raised, and the Coast Salish territories where the film was shot. She also introduced the feature length documentary in development while in residence Western Front, for which Spirit Emulsion serves as an opening prayer.

The artists’ were joined by Booker for a short conversation and question and answer period, followed by a guided tour of the Maplewood Flats with Oostindie and Wyss. 

Transportation between Western Front and Maplewood Mudflats was made available via minibus. 

Facilitated by Nathaniel Marchand.