Why Are We Listening

Field Guides for Listeners draws attention to salmon spawning and salmon farming that takes place far from the eyes of most Canadian citizens. It is a guide for listeners as it helps to identify salmon culture in its natural and unnatural environments. It asks: how can we respectfully listen to scientific and land-based knowledge; how can we imagine the perspectives of salmon themselves; how can we integrate what we learn into artwork; and how can others receive our work through different media?

We believe that an ecologically necessary strategy for art-making is to listen, inquire, and build relationships in a reciprocal manner. We intend to make ‘Field Guides’ that are accountable to the people and the land that teaches us. If our work is a burden on the local Nations, the salmon or the researchers at Salmon Coast Field Station, then we have failed in our goals as artists, stewards, and concerned citizens.