Barbara Zeigler: Journey's Junction
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Fort Gallery 9048 Glover Road, PO Box 685, Fort Langley, British Columbia V1M 2S1
Barbara Zeigler, "Journey's Junction," 2020
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The Fort Gallery is pleased to present Journey’s Junction, an exhibition by Vancouver-based artist and UBC visual art professor Barbara Zeigler. Journey’s Junction concludes The Fraser River Project— a six-month program undertaken by The Fort Gallery of exhibitions exploring the social, cultural, and environmental significance of the Fraser River and the gallery’s location on its shores.
Zeigler has long been dedicated to exploring environmental issues through her artwork. The works included in Journey’s Junction tackle the plight of the Fraser River sockeye salmon and the river itself. Created over the course of a decade, these works take on a particular urgency in the midst of two consecutive years of the lowest ever sockeye salmon returns to the Fraser. With the future of the Fraser sockeye uncertain Zeigler’s work challenges us to question our “cultural paradigms which prioritize particular bodies and environments over others.”
Zeigler’s installation, Journey’s Junction, features large photographic prints on the floor and walls, immersing the viewer in the drama of the salmons’ journey up river to their spawning grounds. She seeks to connect human and non-human bodies by giving the viewer a salmon’s eye view of the river. Zeigler’s panoramic print Critical Mass consists of many photographs digitally stitched together, resulting in a crowd that overwhelms the banks of the Fraser River. Playing on the cultural trope of the hero appearing to save the day, the crowd of Critical Mass gazes into an empty sky, suggesting that there is no hero and the work of conservation is our own.
At this junction, as the fates of the sockeye and the many species that depend on them hang in the balance, Zeigler challenges viewers to take responsibility for the non-human lives we share this land with.
Journey’s Junction runs October 2-November 8 at the Fort Gallery. An artist talk, together with an online panel discussion on the plight of the Fraser River sockeye salmon will be held later in October. The date and time for this event will be posted on the gallery’s website. All are welcome to attend these events.