Mia + Eric
In a Strange Place
November 7, 2024—February 9, 2025
How do we envision the future of our forests amid ongoing environmental and climate catastrophes? What stories do the caretakers of these vital ecosystems have to share? How can the experiences of those who care for forests inform our collective approach to environmental conservation?
Mia + Eric’s In a Strange Place (2024) is a 9-channel video installation that reflects on the labour of forest caretakers and stewards—revealing the politics of care that colours and contours the work that they do, and the relationship that they nurture with the land that they care for.
Born out of a multi-year, international research and engagement process with communities in England, Germany, and Norway, this iteration of the project is akin to a homecoming, featuring thirty caretakers from the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, including woodlands close to Calgary.
This immersive installation sees 150 ecologists, activists, conservationists, and land keepers performing slow-motion gestures of their work in these forests—work that is both quietly aloof and yet deeply intimate. Through these improvised choreographies, forest work emerges as an embodied labour and practice that intertwines the personal connections of individuals with the natural world, reflecting our collective responsibility towards the ecosystems that we all share and inhabit.
Videographer: Benjamin Hotz
Sound Design: Kris Demeanor
Collaborative Producers: Maíra Wiener, Jenna Winter
Artistic Assistants: Maíra Wiener, Rachel Rose
Indigenous relations coordinator: Pam Beebe
In a Strange Place was originally commissioned by Matchbox (Germany), Gateshead International Festival of Theatre (England), and Arctic Arts Festival (Norway).
Upcoming Programs
Program Archive
About the Artists
Mia + Eric
We are Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Mia + Eric have presented projects and exhibitions at The Bentway (Toronto), GIFT Festival (Gateshead, UK), Buenos Aires International Festival (AR), Matchbox (Mannheim, DE), Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, NO), Take Me Somewhere (Glasgow), Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown), Parks Canada Discovery Centre (Woody Point, NL), ESKER Project Space (Calgary), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Grand Union (Birmingham, UK), Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Flux Night (Atlanta), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), and Stromereien Performance Festival (Zürich).
