At first glance, the lives of French artist Joseph Kieffer and the ice fishermen of Rimouski, Quebec, seem worlds apart. But in the Great White North, the two have come together. Kieffer was invited to the town of Rimouski by the Caravansérail Artists' Centre, and soon after arriving he noticed groups of men and women fishing on the ice covering the St. Lawrence River. Intrigued, he made a deal with them: in exchange for their stories, he would make each of them a weather vane-inspired by those very stories-for their fishing shacks. Kieffer's project mirrors the people involved: it is endearing, tender and very human. Could this be a magical effect of the ice that forms on the river's surface every winter? Or of this seemingly enchanted spot, to which fishermen return year after year? It is a place that appears to exist outside of time, where the activity of ice fishing becomes a ritual and where silence is transformed into a source of serenity and tranquility. Here, cultures and traditions join together, as the ephemeral community of ice-fishing men and women fend off the cold and transform the frigid landscape into a place of warmth. This is the place where On the Ice Floe takes us, to learn the stories of those who live here, and to see life through their eyes.