| Controversial exhibit
on display at the American Mountaineering Center
Beginning October 15 of 2004 and running through
January 9, 2005, the Colorado Mountain Club will host an exhibition
of the photographs of Subhankar Banerjee that show the stunning
beauty of the coastal plains of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge.
The coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge provides early-forming snowdrifts for polar bears to den.
It is host to more than 160 resident and migratory bird species
that journey from six continents and all fifty states to feed on
the abundance of mosquitoes and grasses, and nest and rear their
young. Massive herds of porcupine caribou converge on the coastal
plain to calve each spring. The coastal plain is the biological
heart of the Refuge; the Refuge is our own American “Serengeti.”
Through images, lectures and stories, Subhankar Banerjee
tells of his 4000-mile trip with Inupiat guide Robert Thompson—on
foot, raft, kayak, and snowmobile to produce the first comprehensive
photographic portrait of the Refuge in all four seasons. He devoted
fourteen months in the field over two years documenting the landscape,
its wild species, and its Native people who have coexisted in harmony
with the landscape for over 10,000 years. His experience resulted
in a deep love and appreciation for this region, and a passionate
desire to tell it’s story, and encourage its protection.
Subhankar lived with Native families, striving to learn
their way of life, and came to appreciate their relationship with
the land and the wildlife. Whenever possible, Subhankar’s lectures
will include appearances by members of the Native people of this
area—the Gwich’in Athabascan and the Inupiats. He is the recipient
of the Lannan Foundation’s first Cultural Freedom Fellowship. The
fellowship award allows him to continue his work to protect the
Arctic, and to study other topics related to the environmental and
social effects of globalization.
Subhankar’s experiences resulted in the publication
of “Arctic National Wildlife: Seasons of Life and Land” published
by The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, Washington. The 200 breathtaking
images are partnered with original essays by the most informed and
respected voices for the Refuge, including Peter Matthiessen,
David Allen Sibley, George Schaller, President Jimmy Carter, Debbie
Miller, William Meadows, and Fran Mauer, with a poem
by Terry Tempest Williams.
On March 19, 2003, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California)
held aloft an advance copy of the book on the Senate floor as she
rallied opposition to a proposal to open the Refuge to oil exploration.
“I wish every Member could have the chance to take a look at this
beautiful book.” The vote to drill was defeated that day, but the
debate continues, and with it the ongoing threat of irrevocable
development of this remarkable ecosystem.
The subsequent
exhibition of Subhankar’s images at The Smithsonian National
Museum of Natural History was marginalized due to the political
pressure that followed, and resulted in national publicity surrounding
this controversy. The California Academy of Sciences took
a leadership role in recreating the exhibit, with the natural history
information intact that had been compromised by The Smithsonian.
This exhibit is the one that was chosen by the Lannan Foundation to base the additional six exhibits that will travel to at least a dozen
museums throughout 2004. An additional exhibit at the American Museum
of Natural History was funded by the Alaska Wilderness League and
The Wilderness Society, and will run through September 2004. |
