OTTAWA, Ontario, Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Step into a world where art and nature intertwine. Rewilding – the David Suzuki Foundation Arts Prize is a new exhibition on display at the Canadian Museum of Nature from October 11, 2024, to September 8, 2025. It features the work of 13 talented Canadian artists, winners of the inaugural David Suzuki Foundation Rewilding Arts Prize.
Rewilding is the concept of restoring natural environments, helping them return to their original, self-sustaining states. The goal is to boost biodiversity, strengthen ecosystems, and create thriving and resilient landscapes. Through their artistic interpretations, these artists have brought the concept of rewilding to life, reimagining rewilding in our yards, neighborhoods, and communities, and giving a fresh perspective on nature and biodiversity. Some are artists by profession, while others are trained as scientists, environmentalists, and educators.
“Art can inspire us to explore different ways of connecting with nature, and to address challenging topics such as biodiversity loss and climate change,” says Danika Goosney, Ph.D., the Museum’s President and CEO. “We are thrilled to have partnered with the David Suzuki Foundation to showcase the works of the Rewilding prize recipients in this unique exhibition.”
The artworks were selected by a jury of esteemed Canadian artists and curated by Helen Gregory, Ph.D., Curator at the McIntosh Gallery at the University of Western Ontario. Gregory is interested in the intersection of art, science, and museology with a focus on natural history in contemporary art.
“This exhibition was a pleasure to work on and builds on the strength of the prize itself, which is open to anyone who uses their art practice to think about our relationship with the environment,” says Gregory. “The resulting projects, and the presentations of the artworks in the Rewilding exhibition demonstrate that passionate and innovative thinkers from across disciplines are needed to find creative solutions to the environmental issues affecting the planet.”
Visitors will see the 13 interpretations of rewilding created by artists from diverse backgrounds and experiences. The range of materials to present their works includes textiles, photographs, videos, digital collage, plant and insect specimens, and even re-used bubble wrap.
“As we confront the escalating environmental crises, the need to rewild our imaginations and communities becomes ever more urgent,” says Jode Roberts from the David Suzuki Foundation. “Art offers a powerful tool for this rewilding process, allowing us to envision a future that is in harmony with nature and rooted in equity and justice.”
The artists (in alphabetical order)
Xecê Khadija Baker is a Syrian-Kurdish multidisciplinary artist, now living in Quebec, who delves into themes of identity, memory and uncertainty of home resulting from persecution and displacement. Her 22-minute video documents her live performance, Performing Community Garden.
Laara Cerman is a multidisciplinary artist from British Columbia who explores the intersection of art, science and history. Her work explores the pockets of wilderness that survive in urban and suburban areas. For the exhibition, she has created a mixed-media sculpture of a tree stump using textiles and metalwork.
Janice Wright Cheney's textile sculptures explore the loss of wilderness and the potential for ecological restoration. In the exhibition, visitors will see the shape of a polar bear (facing North), made from crocheted wool, crystals and Epsom salts.
Anna Binta Diallo is a multidisciplinary Winnipeg-based artist. In her work, she raises questions about “wilderness” and how communities have attempted to exert control over the natural world. Her digital collage in this exhibition combines found imagery of maps and natural elements to create two figures.
Kendra Fanconi co-founded the theatre company, The Only Animal, with the goal of bringing awareness and solutions to the climate crisis through arts-led practices. Visitors will see a large photograph that is 100% to scale of the old-growth cedar tree stump used in the outdoor installation, The Thousand Year Theatre. The accompanying video describes Fanconi’s project and offers a vision for a future where humans and nature coexist harmoniously.
Natasha Lavdovsky is a Vancouver Island–based artist, amateur lichenologist and naturalist. She believes that our communities include both humans and non-humans. Her installation presents two photos of her moss salvaging project in a forested area of British Columbia scheduled for logging.
Hashveenah Manoharan, who lives in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, looks at how harvesting culturally relevant crops can strengthen ethnic identity and connection to nature. Her installation contains watercolour paintings and a sketchbook of her illustrations from her fieldwork as a biologist.
Angela Marsh is a Quebec City–based arts educator. She creates “tapestries” from fragments of wild plants found in abandoned urban lots and engages in restoration projects. Visitors will see plant fragments in a bubble-wrap installation.
Amanda McCavour is a Toronto-based textile artist who often uses botanical imagery inspired by natural-history collections as well as her local environment. Visitors will see an installation of more than 500 suspended poppies delicately created through machine embroidery on dissolvable fabric.
Sarah Peebles is a Toronto-based installation artist, composer and musician. Her installation at the museum includes video and audio of pollinators indigenous to natural and urban ecosystems.
Amber Sandy is an Anishinaabe artist who focuses on using natural elements from the land to reclaim traditional knowledge that was lost over generations because of colonialism. Visitors will see two handbags made from birch bark and the hides of moose and deer. Her mixed media works honour the importance of community and Indigenous stewardship of the land.
Cole Swanson is a Toronto artist who often uses materials gathered from nature to provide insight into how the natural world is changing around us. His museum display will showcase 280 gilded insect specimens painted with 24-carat gold leaf.
Justin Tyler Tate is a Canadian-born, international artist. His “Post-Anthropocene Architecture” series prioritizes the well-being of other (non-human) species over the exploitation of nature. His approach is based on ideas of environmental justice, kinship, rewilding, and decolonization. A large photograph depicts Tate’s outdoor installation, Terricolous 2024, in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
This exhibition was developed in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation and Rewilding Magazine. It is included with general museum admission.
The museum is located at 240 McLeod Street at Metcalfe Street in Ottawa. Follow the museum at X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
About the David Suzuki Foundation
The David Suzuki Foundation is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization, founded in 1990. Our mission is to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life, now and for the future. Rewilding Magazine is an independent publication dedicated to exploring the people, places, ideas and debates connected to the global rewilding movement.
About the Canadian Museum of Nature
The Canadian Museum of Nature is Canada's national museum of natural history and natural sciences. The museum provides evidence-based insights, inspiring experiences, and meaningful engagement with nature's past, present, and future. It achieves this through scientific research, a 15-million-specimen collection, education programs, signature and travelling exhibitions, and a dynamic web site, nature.ca.
Information for media:
Laura McEwen
Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Nature
613-698-7142, lmcewen@nature.ca
Dan Smythe
Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Nature
613-698-9253, dsmythe@nature.ca
