SANCTUARY: The Ancient Forest Experience

Step inside a 360° experience set within some of British Columbia’s last remaining ancient forests, offering both an adventure for the senses and an ecological awakening.

Presented as part of the exhibition Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change, SANCTUARY: The Ancient Forest Experience is an immersive installation created by artist, ethnobotanist, educator and activist Dr. T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss in collaboration with filmmakers Damien Gillis and Olivier Leroux.

At the heart of the exhibition is a life-sized replica of an 1,800-year-old red cedar. Inside, visitors enter a geodesic dome where a stunning 360° film transports them deep into some of British Columbia’s last remaining ancient forests—places rarely seen, increasingly threatened and profoundly sacred.

SANCTUARY features the Inland Temperate Rainforest in BC’s Kootenay region and the Dakota Bear Ancient Forest, known to the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) People as Stal’Kaya (Home of the Sea Wolves) and located on the Sunshine Coast in the unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). These rich, intact forests, which have evolved since the last Ice Age, are set in stark contrast with nearby clear-cuts and tree plantations.

Narrated by Dr. Wyss, this multi-sensory work is accompanied by a layered soundscape of birdsong, flowing streams and waterfalls. It also highlights the flora and fauna of these ecosystems, including culturally modified trees, living evidence of the Squamish Nation’s long-term care and use of Stal’Kaya. Red and yellow cedars, traditionally used to make canoes, paddles, baskets and other vital cultural objects, feature prominently in the film, with a selection of works displayed in the gallery.

In 2021, following more than a decade of advocacy to halt logging in Stal’Kaya, the Squamish Nation and the Government of British Columbia reached an agreement to protect the forest. The film also explores ongoing efforts by the Valhalla Wilderness Society to protect the Inland Temperate Rainforest. While the creation of the Incomappleux Ancient Forest Conservancy in 2023 marked an important step forward, many ancient forests in the Kootenays remain unprotected—an increasingly critical pursuit in the era of climate change.