Ashes and Snow —
The Worldwide Sensation is now
available on DVD!
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The Film
DVD
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The Soundtrack
CD
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Gregory Colbert's Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project that weaves together photographic works, 35mm films, art installations and a novel in letters. With profound patience and an unswerving commitment to the expressive and artistic nature of animals, he has captured extraordinary interactions between humans and animals.
Throughout history, our relationship and understanding of animals has been rooted in myths and legends. Until now these narratives have been specific to cultures, regions or tribes. The one-hour Ashes and Snow film and nine-minute film haikus bridge geographical and cultural boundaries, connecting modern man with the totemic animals that touch our spirit.
Colbert, who calls animals "nature's living masterpieces," chose to film animals in their native habitats in an effort to be true to each animal's voice. The film can be viewed as a work of art as well as a poetic field study. The film was edited by two-time Oscar winner Pietro Scalia. It is narrated by Laurence Fishburne, and the musical collaborators include Michael Brook, David Darling, Heiner Goebbels, Lisa Gerrard, Lukas Foss, Nusrat Fateh, Ali Kahn, and Djivan Gasparyan.
Canadian-born artist Gregory Colbert began his career in Paris making documentary films about social issues. Filmmaking led to his work as a fine arts photographer, and the first public exhibition of his work was held in 1992 at the Musée de l’Elysée in Switzerland.
For the next ten years, Colbert showed no films and exhibited none of his art. Instead, he traveled to such places as India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Dominica, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tonga, Namibia and Antarctica to film and photograph wondrous interactions between human beings and animals. The list of animals includes: Asian elephants, Sperm whales, Humpback whales, Royal eagles, Manatees, Peregrine falcons, Gyr falcons, Elands, Baboons, Cheetahs, Meerkats, African wild dogs, Pilot whales, Harris hawks, Sacred ibis, Antigone cranes, Caracals, Orangutans, Rhinoceros hornbills, Gibbons, Saltwater crocodiles, Samba deer, Jaguars, Ocelots, Kinkajous, Tyras, Anteaters, Jabiru storks, Tapirs, Grey foxes, and Margays.
In 2002, he launched the Ashes and Snow exhibition in Italy at the Venice Arsenale, a 125,000-square-foot 15th-century shipyard owned by the Italian navy. It was the largest solo exhibition ever mounted in Italy. The Nomadic Museum debuted with the opening of Ashes and Snow in New York on the Hudson River’s Pier 54, and subsequently migrated to Santa Monica, California.
More than one million people have attended the show since the beginning of its journey in Venice. The project has been embraced by a general as well as a critical audience, and Gregory Colbert received the 2005 Lucie Award for Curator of the Year for the Ashes and Snow installation at the Nomadic Museum in New York.
“In exploring the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals, I am working towards rediscovering the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony with animals. The images depict a world that is without beginning or end, here or there, past or present.”
—Gregory Colbert, Creator of Ashes and Snow
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