ARTIST: Susannah Hoffmann-Mitscherling
“All Our Relations” is a short, site-specific work, filmed in Squamish, British Columbia. It is narrated by Randall W. Lewis of the Squamish River Watershed Society and Squamish First Nation. The decision to work with the Squamish Estuary and Lewis was based on my desire to explore and learn about areas of British Columbia that were unknown to me prior to the project. The film was influenced by Slow Media founder Greg Coyes. Slow media is an effective and beautiful way to introduce a landscape to an audience, and it also offers the perfect platform for an educational narrative. It allows the viewer to delve more deeply into the landscape, and appreciate it slowly and in detail.
This work, originally intended to focus on the flora of the estuary, grew into a much larger narrative: that of our relationship to land. It was important to me to uphold and share Lewis’s story, which is one of nostalgia, loss and anger, but also of connection and tireless devotion to the lands he calls home. He speaks of how community is inextricably tied to the land, hence the title, “All Our Relations”. This work is a continuation of a body of work that I have been creating over the past couple of years that explores nostalgia and memory tied to land. Previous works have dealt with my own memories in connection with British Columbia, whereas this work focuses on Lewis’s story in relationship with Squamish. As an artist, it is important that my work is speaking to an issue, one that I face personally or one that we face collectively. “All Our Relations” is a reminder that we are all connected, and that we are very much of the land on which we live. Whether the land flourishes or dies is up to us.
david suzuki foundation
