vision

Land-Based Art+Design seeks to pursue methodologies that uncover transformative design innovations and expressions that confront the colonial paradigm and promote a regenerative future. The practice questions the dominant systems, structures, and paradigms that inform design practices today and explores alternative approaches rooted in land-based epistemologies to produce solutions that prioritize Indigenous self-determinism, climate resilience and human well-being. We aim to demonstrate the validity of land-based epistemologies and ways-of-being in planning and design theory, to catalyze the practical implementation of new and regenerative approaches within and outside of Indigenous communities.

land-based approach

Land-based design is rooted in the power of the land; the power to hold the history of culture and ecology from time immemorial to the present. The approach employs place-based research that explores the history, ecology and traditional knowledge of the land, through research, community engagement and multidisciplinary collaboration to uncover the story of place. Background research informs the creation of counter cartographies and analysis modelling that tell these stories from a decolonized lens, and are inclusive of traditional knowledge in ways that align with protocol and represent data that is not typically recognized in western traditions of knowledge production. Research and analysis findings inform integrative and place-based design solutions.

Miriam Berndt  

B.ENV.DES, SITES AP

Miriam is a mixed-media visual artist, landscape designer and environmental planning consultant, living in cə̓snaʔəm (so-called Marpole, Vancouver BC). She is the daughter of Theresa from Kahkewistahaw First Nation, Jim of Irish ancestry, and the step-daughter of Chris from the Six Nations of the Grand River. Her artwork explores themes of generational healing, hybrid identity, and land-based epistemologies. Her practice in art and design employs a multi-disciplinary approach, combining the processes and materials of fine art and landscape architecture, to tell stories of place through abstract expressions and integrated design solutions. Through her practice she seeks to reveal truths and heal wounds caused by colonial violence through storytelling. Not just by telling the horrifying facts and sad stories — but by taking the fullness of these stories, including the joy with the suffering, to create something utterly new.