This week, I am featuring No Small Choices: Stories from the Muskwa-Kechika, an exhibition which is on display now at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery until October 15th.
The show includes photography by Ryan Dickie, a Dene digital storyteller, and Wayne Sawchuck, a logger turned conservationist; alongside antler carvings by Larry Warren, a former outfitter. This unlikely trio have united to raise awareness about the 4.4 million hectares of unspoiled wilderness known as the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area in northern BC.
I would like to describe the Muskwa-Kechika to you, dear reader, but in this case, seeing is better than reading.
Tetsa Waterfall, by Wayne Sawchuck, captures just one of the countless sweeping vistas to be found in the MK.
The MK is a stunning expanse of mountain ranges, rivers, forests, lakes and meadows, where wild game is plentiful and undisturbed. It is the traditional territory of the Dene people, who have traversed, lived and hunted on these lands for millennia. The MK is enormously important ecologically, and keeping it wild has been a joint effort by many parties, including industry, First Nations, outfitters and conservationists, as well as the artists themselves.
To learn more about the fight to preserve the MK, watch In the Land of Dreamers, a CBC documentary co-directed and co-produced by Ryan and Wayne respectively. In the Land of Dreamers is available to stream now for free on CBC Gem. The title refers to the Dene people, the dreamers and holy men who recognized the significance of the land and marked it as dechin. In the film, Ryan describes dechin as “Our holy ground, the place we go when times get hard.” It is a sacred place that must be preserved for those who come after us.
Above the Storm, by Ryan Dickie
In No Small Choices, the nearly metaphysical beauty of the land is captured admirably by the two photographers. Their selected works offer us views of the MK from many angles, whether they focus on a single encounter or take on such macro perspectives that their subject becomes almost abstract. Taken together, the viewer is left with a sense of awe at the vastness and complexity of the land and its ecological rhythms.
Larry Warren, a former outfitter who ran a guiding operation in the area for decades, put his leather working skills to good use when he turned to antler carvings. His works are stunningly detailed and expertly carved sheds dropped by herds of deer, caribou, moose and elk, and etched with the flora that sustains them. The carvings are an elegant embodiment of the reciprocal relationships between human, plant and animal.
Flaming Oak, by Larry Warren
If No Small Choices and In the Land of Dreamers have piqued your interest in the MK, you can book a horseback tour, guided by Wayne Sawchuck, to experience this rare and untamed landscape for yourself. If you aren’t able to go next year, you can spread the word about the importance of the MK to ensure it will be there for you and yours to explore in the future.
Do you have an artistic endeavour you would like to promote? Is there a topic you would like me to discuss? I would love to hear from you! Please email me at programs@dcartgallery.ca.
