Tsa Palmer, co-founder and director of the UKWCT looks into the grey wolves' enclosure
Grey wolf (name to be added) snaps jaws in front of a volunteer before taking a play bow
Part un-academic enquiry, part autobiographical reflection, Patterns of Care is an on-going moving image and research project that originated from observation and practice of inter-species care. Anchored in the duties of care for and with my elderly grandfather, the research that followed has taught me ways of healing through thinking-being-with indigenous worldviews and the importance of acknowledging and practicing interconnectedness amongst species. Here, I talk about the grey and arctic wolves I met at what is now a closed Conservation Trust, previously a public-facing education centre; the challenges of balancing healthcare, wellbeing, employment, practice, and care-for-the-world; I address vulnerability across species through my grandfather-as-collaborator's vulnerable present, and my intermittent visits to places of animal and human confinement-as-care; I consider the ethics interwoven between them, when ‘to care’ means ‘to withdraw’, and how language normalises captivity.
Original music is being composed by Samuel Holloway.
