My name is Mark Wihak and I’m the person behind Project Pedestrian. I’m a filmmaker and educator living on Treaty 4 lands in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Walking has been an important part of my life ever since I meandered down the back alleys to and from elementary school. My film (stories from) The Land of Cain begins with recounting an idea I had as a child about walking down my back alley, past the gate of my yard, across the railway tracks and out onto the prairie, walking northwards through the boreal forest, and out onto the tundra where the caribou are.

However, I don’t consider myself a “serious walker”. I’ve not done any of the major pilgrim walks or hiking trails and probably won’t. Most of my walking is in the cities I’ve lived in and visited.

There are many serious walkers out there and some of them are writers and artists who’ve made work that beautifully evokes their experiences and ideas; I’ll be sharing some of my favourites on the Resources and Notes pages of this website.

With Project Pedestrian, I want to try and find my own ways into the vast subject of walking, and to creatively explore how a time-based medium like filmmaking can work with a time-based activity like walking.

Our ability to walk is provisional. Some of us are never given the ability to walk, others lose it through disease or accident or war. I’m still able to walk comfortably, but having witnessed the physical decline of my parents I’m aware the ease of walking will be impacted as I age. I want to work on this project while I’m still fully able to.

I’m grateful to SK Arts for the support provided to Project Pedestrian.

For more background on Project Pedestrian, check out the About page.