Check out this blog post from the Fungi: Beyond the Eye project which reimagines local Stratford fungi through a new lens, discovering the hidden underground world of mycelium networks that lie beneath your feet.
WEEK 3
Where the Connections Take Us
This week we went beyond the eye, beyond our vision, and shared our progress with our peers and the community. As we told the story of the mycelium and the expansive systems connecting the ground beneath what we can see, we were posed with a question: What about the connectivity of the earth, the fungi and the local indigenous peoples? This question is important, as it is something we have considered in the past, however incorporating this information has proven difficult as we didn’t want to misrepresent the local indigenous peoples, the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Neutral (Attawandaron) peoples.
The indigenous people have always lived in balance with nature, knowing that the earth must be tended and preserved (ONEIDA, 2023). They commonly promote a worldview where we are all spiritual beings - humans, animals, trees, plants, rocks, water, along with other co-inhabitants of the earth (Anishinaabe News, 2015). The importance of land and acknowledgement and the connection with nature emphasizes the longstanding history that has brought us to this land and allows us to understand our place within that history (Native Governance, 2019). Acknowledging the relationships and culture associated with the land that we are highlighting is of the highest importance.
Through Fungi Beyond the Eye, we seek to provide a platform for the unseen. It is also important that we also provide a platform for those that deserve to be heard. While it may be difficult to describe and inform the viewer of this connection through our installation, we hope to display our intention to promote the vast connection of the mycelium roots and their connection to the Stratford community.
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