Following the deer

«Following the deer» has been imagined as a visual poem. This fiction describes the various stages of an archery deer-hunting session as it might have been practised 400 years ago by members of the Siraya tribe. Tracking and tracing, reading animal footprints and deciphering the flight of the birds, invocation and thanks to the spirits of the forest, stalking and pursuit, death and sharing, are all crucial stages in this ancestral practice and highlight the ecological implications of a practice concerned with preserving natural balances in a world seen through a whole system of interrelationships. Understanding how to live in a world in which all living beings are linked may enable us to reconfigure our imaginations for viable futures. This work is an invitation to enter the forest in search of the essential.

(Many thanks to Alak Akatuang)

With the support of Soulangh Cultural Park and JS Ltd.