2 Songs 4 Nature

A project by Dr. Glenn Sutter,

Curator of Human Ecology, Royal Saskatchewan Museum

Dr. Sutter is a leader in living heritage within the province. He has helped communities build and develop ecomuseums, created thought-provoking exhibits in major Saskatchewan museums, and most recently enabled people of all ages to connect with nature through the experience of songwriting. Dr. Sutter says the Songs 4 Nature camps started as youth songwriting camps that evolved into a larger scale community initiative mostly involving adults. For interested participants, there is a public Facebook group for Songs 4 Nature, and there are private groups for more specific information relating to individual online activities and camps.

Dr. Sutter related concepts of living heritage to songwriting as it makes use of creativity to explore  connections with a placeand with nature. He said that “[…] it is something everyone can do and in every moment of the day […] there is nature all around us […] you don’t have to go very far.” The songs are real examples of what participants are thinking about their connections and surroundings. They demonstrate living heritage as they capture people’s thoughts, histories, and perspectives. The project has been running since 2015 and has notably included camps for high school students and for adults. The camps have produced a number of songs and have featured them in an exhibit at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum called “Home: Life in the Anthropocene,” and on an EP. They put forward the importance of creative pursuits in asking people to reflect on their connections to living heritage and on nature.

This initiative is elevating the importance of living heritage as it relates to sustainability and our connection to nature, by looking after the world and each other. Past exhibits at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum have had components of living heritage, such as the Human Factor exhibit (2001-2020) which Sutter had curated. He acknowledges Dr. Katherine Arbuthnott of Campion College and all mentors and songwriters who have participated in Songs for Nature and lead the workshops, for helping the project’s development over time and for their individual artistic contributions. Dr. Sutter discussed the importance of making living heritage something people think about.

For Dr. Sutter, living heritage is culture. It is how we live, it is the collection of attitudes and behaviors we experience, both as individuals and as groups; it is our connections to a place, as they relate to the experiences we have in that place. Dr. Sutter offered that, “[songwriting experiences] are wonderful opportunities to focus on aspects of living heritage that are not only interesting but also relevant to real-world concerns.”

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum provides an overview of the project and of the research surrounding it.