"The Tale of Balance" is a fairy tale that aims to link two key issues: environmental destruction and low mental health/wellbeing. Both stem from our lost connection to nature. Everything in the nature is biologically connected, so why do we think we are not? Underground network, allows trees to communicate, share resources, and even warn each other of dangers. Mycorrhizal symbiosis is a symbiotic relationship between trees and mushrooms. We must remember we are a part of the natural world, not it's owners, and work to restore the balance not just in nature, but ourselves too in order to achieve a better world for everyone and everything. I believe, as we have lost the connection and the ancient knowledge, we simply do not feel the pain the nature and people around us are in.

​

The tale was translated into poetry and used for sound design, then used as a guide to create animated story for video mapping. Sound design also is made from recorded nature sounds, our own voices, my sound designers kids laugh and scream, woodpecker in my country side forest house in Latvia, walking into snow and breaking thin ice. Me and nature worked together on this :)

​

I am truly feeling that this open call was sent to me by my mermaids from my animation. First it is unbelievable how perfectly it can align with Nuit Blanche’s curatorial theme “Poetic Justice”. The animation is based on poetry and is literally about justice towards animals, nature and towards each other and how to restore the balance. How you talk about water weaving together the delicate balance of life on Earth and its role in cultural and spiritual traditions, and its potential to guide us toward new futures, strongly resonates with me and my tale.

So I would like to propose to do 4-5 minutes of “Tale of Balance” as it is (obviously I will adjust the animation for the Canada Malting Silos facade), and then write a new chapter about Water that would be another 4-5 minutes. It might seem that "Tale of Balance" is not about Water Treaty, but I would like to address that overusing water in industrial production, when there already are ways how to reduce it, but it is not "rentable" to simply washing dishes or teeth while keepint the tap open, is a result of lost connection to nature. We do not feel the need to be in balance with nature anymore, because we have everything in supermarket and we choose not to see what happens underneath and how nature is tourtured to meet our needs. Like drinking water companies do not produce water, they produce plastic! It is time to have refillable water station all over cities and in supermarkets! We have to address the root of the problem. We are lazy to own a bottle and refill! ANd because of that we are not forced by govereement to to do that! We would go to protest :D So in my opinion "Tale of Balance" is a perfect introduction chapter for the Water Treaty chapter.

Of course drought is another problem, but also that can be linked to pollution in a way. That could be talked in the tale as the nature being angry at us.

​

As I did not secure additional funding, my original idea about including characters that are real live contemporary dancers and circus artists filmed in costumes on green screen and after incorporated in the animation to interact with digital characters, did not come to life. So I would love to propose to use this technique in this project. I am also open to hear some fairy tales from Canada that would include water and magical creatures and incorporate that in the Tale of Water chapter.

​

Please note that the following poem will be edited and extended. This is just the first script. We will make it more about the Water Treaty concepts, and incorporate more text about how to save the water, how we need to work on this together and be responsible and accountable as individuals and community. It will have also more of the feeling of a fairy tale, as we will include some magical characters connected to water. Also legends, symbolism and history of water in different cultures will be explored. As this project is about Canada and EU, I would research tales and legends of these regions to create some characters and part of the storyline, to make people understand and see how important water was and is not just as a resource, but part of us and cultural processes. 

​

​

​

​