Eco-tourism/Surfing

SYNOPSIS

Using surfing as a vehicle, these exhibitions explored the effects of tourism on the local and indigenous peoples in the small community of La Push, Port Renfrew, Tofino and Ucluelet. While many local enterprises have embraced the global market system, many inhabitants in the area oppose tourism and scorn commercialization as values and histories are swallowed by growth. Local cultures are gradually being replaced and modified by cultural reforms tied to consumerism. There has been a betrayal of revered histories and traditions in order to appeal to the whims of a globalizing culture. What was once a remote and simple way of life is disappearing.

Canada’s west coast surfers have existed in their utopian solitude for more than thirty years. This is the end of a soul-searching era as the local surf cultures in the surfing communities on Vancouver Islands resist the commercial imperatives of the global market system. Local cultures are gradually being replaced and modified by cultural reforms tied to consumerism. Today in small communities such as Tofino there has been a betrayal of revered histories in order to appeal to the whims of mass media. While many surfing enterprises have embraced the capitalistic market system, many inhabitants of Tofino don’t like tourists and scorn the commercialization as values and histories are swallowed by growth.

For me, the tourist experience is not unlike the art experience in that there is a need to look beneath the surface. Rather than a globally designed environment, I am drawn to what is on the periphery where the cultural impact is unseen, often invisible. As an artist and cultural tourist, I wish to bring hidden and current issues into view.

A 32-page catalogue/bookwork accompanies the exhibition Impact Zone. It includes texts by Cecilia Denegri Jette and the artist, as well as interviews with Hutch Sam and Connie Watts.