SaltWalks: Nanaimo, 2015

Framed as an improvised walk, this performance shared stories, anecdotes and information about the ubiquitous mineral know as salt. We began with taste tests of different kinds of salt from mass produced table salt to Himalayan rock salt and Fleur de sel from Brittany. These savory comparisons initiated conversations where we explored the use of salt across time and different cultures. Through an engagement with salt, this performance operated as a platform that literally embodies an aesthetic and philosophical enquiry into the importance of this substance to life, ritual, survival, health, industry and the imagination. The audience was invited to join Cutler for a walk through downtown Nanaimo exploring the enduring relationship that civilizations have had with salt, from its importance in food preservation and healing to more aesthetic and philosophical implications.