British Columbia·Photos

Massive art project puts B.C. salmon run under Cambie Street Bridge

Most Vancouverites can't easily witness the seasonal salmon run in their daily city lives. Documentary filmmaker Nettie Wild's latest project Uninterrupted aims to change that.

'Uninterrupted' brings salmon run to heart of Vancouver until Sept. 24

'One of the things we wanted to do with Uninterrupted was [to] not set up [the] city as bad, and [the] river as good. But rather go no, they are two rivers of life and there’s a symbiotic relationship,' said documentary filmmaker Nettie Wild. ( Vivian Luk/CBC)

Most Vancouverites can't easily witness the seasonal salmon run in their daily city lives.

Documentary filmmaker Nettie Wild's latest project, Uninterrupted, aims to change that.

The film brings the famed salmon run right into the heart of Vancouver by projecting it onto the underside of the Cambie Street Bridge.

"The whole idea was to bring this extraordinary wonder that happens and bring it down right into the heart of the city to people who never see or touch something like that," Wild told guest host Gloria Macarenko with On The Coast.

Wild says the most difficult aspect of the installation was making sure the images were not distorted by the bridge landscape. (Vivian Luk/CBC)

The veteran filmmaker, whose career has taken her from the mountains of Chiapas to the streets of the Downtown Eastside, says she was inspired to launch her latest project on the famed Adams River salmon run after she witnessed it for the first time in 2010.

'I just felt that I was seeing something that was really right in the world and that it was really a lot bigger than I was,' Nettie Wild said about her first experience witnessing the salmon run. (Vivian Luk/CBC)

Wild then spent four years filming the sockeye salmon migration to create Uninterrupted.

Uninterrupted is a slow motion art installation. (Vivian Luk/CBC)

Wild hopes the art piece causes viewers to recognize their role in maintaining the salmon run.

"It was something that had been going on since time immemorial, and if we don't mess it up, it will continue to be uninterrupted into our future," explained Wild.

Uninterrupted is supported by the Pacific Salmon Foundation. (Vivian Luk/CBC)

Uninterrupted runs for about 30 minutes and can be viewed from Coopers Park five nights a week until September 24.

Listen to the full interview:

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast