Ruby Eger – Artist

Ruby Eger began her dance journey at the age of 4 and has since developed a profound passion for the art. With 14 years of competitive dance experience, she has honed her skills in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary styles. Her dedication and hard work were recognized when she completed the Advanced 2 Ballet exam with distinction and the Pre-Advanced Jazz exam. Recently, she graduated from a professional dance training program based in Vancouver, BC, called the Harbour Dance Centre’s Intensive Training Program (ITP) in June 2024. Expanding her repertoire, Ruby has been training in breaking and hip-hop freestyle, adding social Latin dance skills with salsa and bachata, as well as mastering the art of dancing in heels, all within the past 2 years. She draws inspiration from Rubberband, a contemporary dance company based in Montreal, renowned for its innovative focus on combining breaking techniques with classical dance. Ruby has worked on sets and filmed numerous dance short films, been in music videos, and created/directed concept videos of her own. Dance is her way of life and she feels incredibly lucky to have had the privilege to pursue it as far as she has.

Dr. Glenn Sutter – The Research

Dr. Glenn Sutter is Curator of Human Ecology at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and adjunct professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina. Along with his teaching and community engagement work, he studies how different aspects of heritage can support sustainability education, with an emphasis on food security, systems thinking, and nature connection.

Anthropocene/Cultural Traps

Humanity is drawn to some ideas and cultural norms like a moth to a flame. These things seem to be positive, but they actually have dire consequences. That idea is not new, but it’s only recently been considered from systemic and evolutionary perspectives. The results point to at least 14 different cultural traps that need to be studied and actively avoided. My colleagues and I have just started to think about how museums are connected to these traps.

Tiny Devils Storyline

Humanity has a strong ignorance when it comes to participating in Anthropocene traps- traps we succumb to, unknowingly, that prevent us from living sustainably. Overconsumption, individualism, overreliance on global trade, division, and loss of ecological knowledge are examples of interactions that humans across the globe participate in that are leading us to harsh realities of the accelerated change of cultural evolution.
This story follows humanity, childlike in wonder and naïve to the ‘real’ world, she stumbles into three figures awaiting her.  As she passes by, each enacts a quote from environmentalists about the state of the climate. With a mix of curiosity and quiet apprehension, humanity absorbs these living relics, her every step questioning the very structures they represent.
We continue to see the representation of select traps. The group entangles her into theirs, symbolically stripping her of her autonomy. They intentionally mock her, refusing connection, emphasizing isolation amid a crowd. With uniformity, the dancers mimic and control each other, representing loss of diversity and knowledge. Rapid shifts in group formations evoke a society constantly splintering under its own weight.
As the dance intensifies, the ensemble’s precise movements devolve into a thrashy, disordered frenzy—a physical manifestation of a society spiraling into collapse. Amid the chaos, humanity stays afloat, partly subsumed by the group’s momentum. Finally, informed on the harms these traps cause her, humanity has a choice to make. Does she continue to live in denial, or does she accept the challenge of reversing the damage unconsciously done by humans.

The Research

HOW ARE MUSEUMS CONNECTED TO THE ANTHROPOCENE TRAPS?

Project Rationale: Cultural trends with worrisome consequences – also known as Anthropocene traps – are making it difficult for humanity to move onto a more sustainable path. These traps are associated with complex eco-social systems that include museums, so it is worth looking at how museum activities might be reinforcing or countering them.
The connections between complex systems and the Anthropocene traps are illustrated below, and initial thoughts about connections to museums are outlined in the following table.



Trap
Context (from paper)
Things that reinforce this trap
Things that counter this trap
Simplification
 Specialized and optimized societies have led to increased efficiency, but reduced diversity and adaptive capacity. Examples include simple, homogeneous supply chains around food. Museums tend to emphasize reductionism, positivism, and other ways of thinking that can lead to this trap. Many also use corporate approaches to governance that relate to this trap, including an emphasis on vertical structures, streamlining, and little redundancy. Disciplinary and corporate ways of thinking need to be integrated with broader ways of knowing based on traditional knowledge, systems thinking, and interdisciplinarity. Museums can help alleviate this trap by focusing on specific resources, such as being repositories for heritage seeds or contributing to programs that nurture local food-based knowledge.
Growth for Growth
 Being locked into or free-riding on economic growth models. Recent growth has mostly benefited the ultra-wealthy, with indicators of wellbeing either stagnant or declining, especially in low- and middle-income areas. The more museums depend on wealthy benefactors and put the desires of local elites before the needs of the wider community, the more they provide tacit support for this trap. Museums are also benefiting from a host of growth-oriented economies, but few recognize this or pay for the cost of being a free-rider.

This trap can be part of internal museum operations as well, especially around collections. The impact of an individual museum is always going to be small and localized, but as a global community the constant expansion of museum collections leads to significant effects.

 Government support for museums is only a partial or incomplete remedy. More important for the fund-raising arm of a museum to foster a wide and diverse base of small-scale supporters.

Other steps museums can take involve being upfront and public about their dependence on growth economies, the importance of thoughtful curation, and aiming to be more community-funded.
Overshoot
 Our collective impacts are depleting resources and driving global systems past their tipping points. Climate change and declining biodiversity are two major consequences. There are many big and multi-layered connections on this front. Garthe book does a good job of laying out how museum activities have been contributing to this, and steps that can be taken to limit their impacts. Recent “star” model is also useful. Beyond operational things, museums have a major role to play here as public educators.
Division
 Selection favours cooperation on small scales, but not globally, so major geopolitical divisions are likely to persist. Tensions are increasing b/n large nation states and regional political blocs, despite UN, GATT, and other successes. Trade can help, but there are few other strategies for fostering cooperation. The colonial history of many museums is likely to exacerbate international and inter-regional tensions. Drawing attention to local aspects of heritage may fan the flames of populism, and projects that glorify or romanticize war can encourage militarism. Many opportunities here, including repatriation and reconciliation projects, emphasizing the larger systems behind aspects of local heritage (e.g., critical habitats for migratory birds), encouraging cooperation to sustain these systems, focusing on non-violent approaches to conflict resolution, celebrating cultural diversity, and supporting cultural exchange programs.
Contagion
 Pathogens are able to spread more easily because of increased connectivity for trade and travel. Rapid design of vaccines is helpful, but system responses can be sluggish, and disparities can limit access. An unintended consequence of museums promoting themselves as tourist attractions and basing their success mostly on visitation. Encourage vaccination and discussion about the science behind it, especially in low- and middle-income areas.
Infrastructure Lock-in
 Becoming dependent on complex infrastructure that is difficult to replace, even when costs outweigh the benefits of doing so. Reliance on fossil-fuel infrastructure is a clear example. Many museums exemplify this, both in the way they operate as institutions and through their physical locations, which are usually urban. This is a difficult trap to address. Best bet is to aim for efficient use of renewable energy through building retrofits, switching to solar/wind/geothermal, and incentivizing the use of public transit by staff and visitors.
Chemical Pollution
 When new or beneficial chemicals have unintended impacts on human or ecosystem health. Rate of production and release of new compounds is rising. Antibiotic resistance is also part of this trap. Museums can be implicated through chemicals used for exhibits, collections preservation and care, and research. Adherence to standards and switching to alternative approaches, where possible. Museums can also help to raise awareness, including around antibiotic resistance.
Existential Technology
 Threats from weapons of mass destruction and the increasing number of countries that have them. Most museums are not implicated here, except for those that overlook or downplay the horrors of war. Showing how humanity has been aware of and trying to deal with this trap since the invention of nuclear weapons. Can also show the benefits of non-violent approaches to conflict resolution.
Technological Autonomy
 When autonomy and automation become maladaptive due to uneven benefits, malfunctions, or misaligned purposes. This trap is familiar to any institution that gathers and has to keep track of large amounts of information. For museum collections, the risk includes the loss of contextualizing data. There is also a risk with the use of AR in exhibits, where entertainment becomes more important than authenticity. Difficult to counteract this, since many aspects are already deeply embedded in museums, and society as a whole. Best option is to identify and implement best practices around exhibit development and collections management.
Dis- and Misinformation
 A consequence of increased access to information, where rates of transmission, the size of networks, and algorithm effects can lead to costly decisions. This helps groups that want to spread fake news and foster polarization, but science and scientists are still trusted. Museums seem to be aware of this trap and many are trying to build on their reputation as trusts sources of information. But they are also communicating mostly to certain target groups, which just reinforces those echo chambers. Addressing this can be challenging since museum communications are often tightly controlled. Projects that foster critical thinking by presenting accurate, authentic stories can be helpful. Also good to build on the fact that many museums are based on science and actively involved in scientific research.
Short-termism
 People prefer short-term outcomes and find it hard to track longer trends when the baselines are variable. Focus on short-term growth by governments and industry has knock-on effects, including the loss of historic ecological and cultural knowledge. This trap shows up in several aspects of museum operations, from internal budget cycles to the adoption of corporate language, measures of success, and strategic planning strategies. Many museums are also not addressing the long-term damage caused by short-term thinking in their messaging, especially around economic growth. Many ways for museums to use their long timeframes to make it clear that current state of the world has no analogue in the past. Can also emphasize the importance of humility in the face of global systems that have high initial stability but can shift quickly and irrevocably when pushed beyond their limits. Long-term strategies adopted by some corporations could serve as examples.
Overconsumption
 Hard to see impacts of production and consumption because of urbanization and long supply chains. Rates of production and consumption are still rising globally, leaving countries with ecological deficits and dependent on external commodities. Over-consumers are not able to reduce their footprints. Museums are completely caught up in this, with limited capacity to identify or reduce the impacts of their activities. Can at least be upfront about their impacts, if only to protect their reputation as trusted sources of information. Hypocrisy is a quick way to lose public trust.

Should also take whatever steps they can around the use of food, energy, and other resources, and be public and obvious about these efforts.
Biosphere Disconnect
 A consequence of urbanization, where quality of life comes with reduced exposure to life-supporting ecosystems. Rates of urbanization are still rising. Urban green space is helpful but varies in amount and quality. Not clear if cities are able to foster regeneration, especially at the global scale. Museums are usually in urban settings, so they are implicated in this by virtue of their locations. Their collections also involve reducing the complex fabric of an ecosystem to isolated specimens, often with limited context. This promotes the sense that life = organism, when life is actually based on a nested hierarchy of ecosystems. Many museums are working to counter this trap since raising awareness about the “natural world” is one of their goals. Critical to show how this affects quality of life and to consider psychological aspects of the Human-Nature split.
Loss of Local Social Capital
 A growing effect of social media, as digital information replaces local, physical interactions. Consequences include the polarization of opinions, creation of echo chambers, the erosion of democracy, and reduced trust in media, experts, and institutions. For those seeking support, online help is less effective than in-person. Museums feed the social media dragon every day, unintentionally adding to this trap. They may enjoy less public trust, despite abiding by the tenets of science, honesty, and clear communication. Many museums can counter this because they offer physical spaces where people can meet, discuss issues, and make plans. Important to do this not as a neutral institution that’s mostly about the past, but as a forward-looking catalyst rooted in holism, science, compassion, and optimism.