Falling Boundaries: New Perspectives on Old Growth Forest

“Falling Boundaries: New Perspectives on Old Growth Forest” will present three contemporary viewpoints concerning the state of Old Growth Forests on Vancouver Island and surrounding areas.  From artistic, scientific and First Nations perspectives, the evening will highlight 3 illustrated talks.  David Ellingsen, a photographic artist, will speak about his recent series Falling Boundaries.  Gina Thomas, a Guardian Watchman for the Tlowitsis First Nation, will share her experiences and observations of the accumulative impacts of natural resource extraction on her traditional territory.  Julie Neilsen, currently completing her PhD in forest ecology at Simon Fraser University, is working as a consultant for the Nanwakolas Council Society in Campbell River.

A Q/A session will follow the three presentations. This is an Art+Earth Festival lecture.

David Ellingsen

David Ellingsen is a Canadian photographer originally from Cortes Island creating images that speak to the relationship between humans and the natural world. He works predominantly in long-term, cumulative projects with a focus on climate, biodiversity and deforestation. Ellingsen’s photographs are part of the permanent collections of the Chinese Museum of Photography, South Korea’s Datz Museum of Art and Canada’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Royal British Columbia Museum. They have appeared with National Geographic and awarded been First Place at the Prix de la Photographie Paris and the International Photography Awards.

Synopsis of his talk: With an immigrant/settler family history intimately connected with the forest as a backdrop, David Ellingsen’s new project Falling Boundaries explores deforestation in British Columbia over the last century. Weaving together threads of resource extraction and the reverberating effects of colonialism within the deepening environmental crisis, Ellingsen will speak about the creation of the work and the intentions behind it.

Gina Thomas

Gina Thomas is a band member of the Tlowitsis Nation and the Senior Guardian Watchman, a Coastal First Nations organization that ensures sustainability in resource management, regulation enforcement and effective implementation of land and marine use agreements. Her background includes years working in forest research, silviculture, and delving into forest engineering. Gina has a degree in Forest Resource Management from the University of British Columbia, a diploma in Natural Resource Technology from Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and a Stewardship technician certificate from Vancouver Island University. Gina worked for the band over the past couple decades carrying out cultural heritage reconnaissance and large cultural cedar surveys and currently spends her days patrolling and monitoring her traditional territory.

Synopsis of her talk: Gina will share her experiences and observations of the accumulative impacts of natural resource extraction has had on her traditional territory.

Julie Nielsen

Julie Nielsen, a white-settler, is a Registered Professional Biologist specializing in forest ecology with a background in watershed management, forestry, conservation biology, and tree physiology. She was born and raised in Coast Salish territory (North Vancouver), and has worked as a tree planter, wildland firefighter, forest engineer, biologist, and forest hydro-ecologist across British Columbia. Julie is currently completing her PhD at Simon Fraser University and working as a consultant for the Nanwakolas Council Society in Campbell River. Her doctoral research bridges aspects of natural science with social science, using western redcedar (Thuja plicata or ‘wilkw’ in the Kwak’wala language) as a common subject of interest across the disciplines of policy and law, anthropology, and ecology. Julie’s work and research focus on the intergenerational stewardship of cedar by First Nations and the historic and current use of Large Cultural Cedar trees by First Nation cedar carvers. She has shared her research and perspectives about these subjects as an invited speaker for several public presentations. Her most recent work has been featured by the CBC and the Globe and Mail.

Synopsis of her talk: Julie will share her perspective on the continued industrial harvesting of the old-growth temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia. As a forest ecologist and ally of Indigenous peoples, she will speak about what she has learned through both her academic and work experience, and from her close relationships with traditional First Nation cedar carvers. She will also discuss the stewardship of cedar in this era of ‘ecosystem-based management’, the value of cedar as a cultural resource, and the repercussions of harvesting old-growth cedar on First Nation carving practices.

Tickets: $17 Admission In Person or Live Stream (+applicable taxes & fees)

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