Landscapes of Retreat

Publication + Exhibition

Landscapes of Retreat are portraits of climate adaptation. Retreat is found in the land that is left behind as settlement patterns shift due to a changing climate. Retreat is found in the land that is left behind as settlement patterns shift due to a changing climate. The term landscape refers to the earth animated by the aliveness of creatures and organisms, and the term retreat suggests that human patterns are not fixed but might also be enlivened. 

The publication features in-depth field studies from Nijinomatsubara Forest, Japan; Maule River, Chile; Niugtaq Village, Alaska; Langtang Park, Nepal; and Gaspésie Peninsula, Québec. The results cut across history, fieldwork, citizenship, and  geography in order to rethink and rework “change” as a means toward shared climate futures. The publication seeks to creatively refine the idea of ‘retreat’ by examining select, precedent-setting sites. Because the term poses more questions than it answers, it is important to understand what retreat is not: it is not nostalgia for sobering events, and it is not a last resort. Instead, the articulation of retreat offers a framework for attending to the radical difference between accepting norms and refusing to be stuck in their game.

The printed publication is accompanied by a free, online publication (LandscapesofRetreat.com) that features additional photography, interviews, audio-visual materials, and an extensive index of additional retreat cases.

A special thank you to collabortors in the field: — in Chile, gracias Alejandro Hormazabal Garrido from Fundación Acercaredes, Daniela Alejandra from Arauco, Ruiz Gonzalez, Tova Katzman, Bernardo Reyes, and Joel Eliú Barrera Valdés; — in Nepal, namaste & tashi delek Babu Tamang, our friend and guide, his whole family for their hospitality, and George Varughese and Mohandas Manandhar from the Niti Foundation; — in Japan, arigatõgozaimashita to non-profit organizer Wakaki Fujita in Karatsu, our boat captain Kan Morita, Kyushu University researcher Akira Tanaka, and community historian and patient teacher Yo Yamada; — in Alaska, Quyana Professor John Koepke, relocation coordinator Sally Cox, and Michael Walleri, who serves as legal counsel to Niagtaq Village tribal leaders; — in Québec, merci to the mayor of Sainte-Flavie Jean-François Fortin,  Laval University Professor Dr. Ladd Johnson, Les Jardins de Metis’s Director Alexander Reford, and biologist Guadalupe Fernandez at Parc de la rivière Mitis.