As an arborist, forest technician, professional composer-performer, and emerging curator, my proposed thesis is a research-creation project that aims to foster empathy for forests through storytelling and sound. My research foregrounds the voices of local forest advocates currently, historically and atemporally connected to the Ottawa-Gatineau region. Stories of people involved in small-scale, DIY, non-profit, grassroots initiatives that support forest stewardship will contribute to a prototype digital sound art exhibition that deepens relationships with forests and those who care for them. This research is important because public perception of forests often centres on notions of control, extraction, or anthropogenic utility. I aim to decenter large-scale industrial relations and recenter small-scale, hyperlocal responsibility to the more-than-human, grounded in ethics of interrelation and reciprocity. This project employs sound art to counter historical colonialist approaches to forest management and to break down boundaries between the white cube gallery and the natural forest, as well as between institutional authority and community voices.
This project is supported by the Howl Experience Microgrant, and is in development as part of my MA in Music and Culture, and graduate diploma in Curatorial Studies through the University of Carleton.
This project is supported by the Howl Experience Microgrant, and is in development as part of my MA in Music and Culture, and graduate diploma in Curatorial Studies through the University of Carleton.
Exhibit floorplan - as of Jan 23 2026
Room A
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Nigamon/Tunai trailer
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Canto Rodado by Leonel Vasquez
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"Both here and in Amazonian Colombia, the turtle is a central figure in many indigenous cosmogonies. Here, the earth was created on the back of a turtle; there, the turtle is the mother of all waters. It is connected to the lunar cycle and to the feminine dimension of life, as much to water as to earth and the stars. The words Nigamon and Tunai mean “song” in the Anishinaabemowin and Inga languages. NIGAMON / TUNAI is a poetic manifesto by Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina, inspired by the bonds of friendship and solidarity between them, and by the exchanges and collaborations they have been developing over the past twelve years between indigenous communities in the North and South.
At the crossroads of friendship and resistance for the protection of water and against extractivism in their respective territories, the two women invite us to a precious sharing nourished by the living knowledge, cosmogonies and struggles that link them. In Canada, mining and oil companies still thrive, while over there, in the Amazon, on the territory of the Inga people, they destroy entire living environments to plunder their resources – including copper, central to Anishinaabe culture. In NIGAMON/TUNAI, Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina experiment with their voices, their breath and their bodies. Interweaving immersive performance and audio documentary among indigenous knowledge and voices, this new theatrical work reveals fascinating resonances between territories." -Onishka Productions
An installation of this work will feature a video of the performance, a pond and accompanying kalimba/copper instrument, as well as several of Leonel Vásquez's sound sculptures, Canto Rodado.
At the crossroads of friendship and resistance for the protection of water and against extractivism in their respective territories, the two women invite us to a precious sharing nourished by the living knowledge, cosmogonies and struggles that link them. In Canada, mining and oil companies still thrive, while over there, in the Amazon, on the territory of the Inga people, they destroy entire living environments to plunder their resources – including copper, central to Anishinaabe culture. In NIGAMON/TUNAI, Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina experiment with their voices, their breath and their bodies. Interweaving immersive performance and audio documentary among indigenous knowledge and voices, this new theatrical work reveals fascinating resonances between territories." -Onishka Productions
An installation of this work will feature a video of the performance, a pond and accompanying kalimba/copper instrument, as well as several of Leonel Vásquez's sound sculptures, Canto Rodado.
Room B
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Suspended tree design
Developed with and 3D rendered by Amélie Singoye |
Lianas/vines design
Developed with and 3D rendered by Amélie Singoye |
Each of these sculptures will emit the sound of story interviews and soundtracks created as a part of my thesis project. The rectangular panels will have transducers mounted on them to receive the vibratory stimuli. I will be experimenting with different woods and technologies to ensure accessible and effective design. The sound will not be very audible in the air but mostly only when leaning against the wood panels, creating a very intimate and introspective experience. Topics explored may include afforestation, seed collection, urban forestry, soils, Indigenous forest management, memory-place-diaspora, and climate change.
Room C
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Grandmother tree design
Developed with and 3D rendered by Amélie Singoye |
clinamen by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
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This large grandmother tree will fill the center of the room, with visitors invited to come lean against the trunk and listen together in a shared experience. The trunk features four spiralling tendrils, which will divide the (likely linden) tree in four. Each quadrant will depict a different season so visitors can observe the buds, leaves, flowers, etc. of the tree throughout each time. The lighting will also reflect these seasonal changes. Around the grandmother tree will be a few water basins or river forms with floating clay-molded leaves (inspired by Boursier-Mougenot's clinamen). Visitors will be invited to pick up a leaf and get to know each species, as a sort of tactile herbarium.
Room D
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Poppies, by Amanda McCavour
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This room is still conceptually in development, but will be a community gathering space featuring a notice board where people can learn more about local initiatives and connect with others. Two tentative interventions include a tree stump where folks can sit to write or draw an idea of something they would like to leave behind on a leaf (and leave scattered with the other leaves), as well as a "bud" or new idea they would like to take with them (and actually take this with them or leave it on a mobile structure similar to McCavour's Poppies). I imagine pop-up community programming taking place largely in here as well.