Using art to explore climate change issues

Jul 27

*The Sword Fern Collective leadership team (left to right) Erica Binder, Paige Hunter and Victor Yin. Photo by Victor Yin*

By Patricia Lane & Paige Hunter

These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.

Paige Hunter is using art to make climate change more accessible. She was named a Starfish Canada Top 25 under 25 Environmental Activist, in part for co-founding the Sword Fern Collective, which holds free public events in Vancouver and Burnaby, B.C., allowing audiences to engage with local artists while exploring climate change issues.

Tell us about your project.

At our event in February at a community hall, 85 members of the public enjoyed a performance by a string quartet of local musicians playing composer Caroline Shaw’s nature-inspired Plan and Elevation. Then they broke into small groups and shared their own past experiences of art inspiring or moving them to action. This was followed by an improvised collective creation of a musical accompaniment to a collage of photos, film clips and videos assembled by the Sword Fern Collective, which included instruments, voice and audience dance and movement.

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