Image: Core Samples. Rachel Rozanski, 2020. 2 x 7 ‘

P E R M A

RACHEL ROZANSKI

MAY 5 - JUNE 29, 2021

About half of Canada is permafrost, and it’s thawing almost a century earlier than predicted. It is the foundation for Arctic ecosystems and in the last ten years, thawing and “permafrost slumps’’ have started to dramatically change the landscape. This multimedia exhibit curated by Katy McCormick investigates how permafrost is being transformed in the Anthropocene, from the direct effects of small-scale mining to the results of large-scale global climate change. Through video, contact images and large-scale drawings, this work shows some of the world’s oldest permafrost in the Yukon and Northwest Territories eroding, thawing and tailing into newly-created rivers, drained lakes, and eventually the sea.

  Following the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean, the video piece made in collaboration with Parham Banafsheh documents land cavities revealing thousands of years-worth of history, exposing prehistoric materials previously preserved in ground ice, and the altered spaces left behind. These cavities release fossils, bacteria, oil, heavy metals, organic matter and gasses as they transform into dripping craters.

Rozanski’s artistic research developed through creative practice and discourse with scientists and Indigenous land-based researchers. Through residency projects in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Iceland, she has collaborated with researchers and been inspired by the study of land change, pollutants, adaptations and extinctions. 

This work was largely informed by extensive knowledge generously shared by Elder Sarah Adam and Yukon Research Centre scientists Fabrice Calmels and Pamela Godin. Discussions with Calvin Pokiak, Weronika Murray and Steve Kokelj offered additional research and support in the making of this work. 

Curated by Katy McCormick
Cinematography and Camera by Parham Banafsheh
presented as part of the 2021 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival

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