AMS Student Nest, University Boulevard, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada
We began our reflection by returning to our place, the Shadow Tree. At the top of the Nest, our group began with a sit-spot reflection.
What have we learned?
Kristina: “I have learned the importance of researching the significance of art on campus, identifying who the creators are, and why it is placed on its specific location. To show appreciation, UBC has implemented various forms of Indigenous art to connect us to the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people as as form of reclaiming land.”
Mila: “Can you share about your experience researching the art on campus, specifically Indigenous art?”
Kristina: “Researching the Douglas Fir and the UBC Musqueam Post has provided me deep insight into the significance of Indigenous art and plants on UBC campus. I learned about how the Musqueam Post allows us to play and learn on its land due to the serpent’s fertilization. Without it, we would not have this land today. This totem pole was built at the entrance of campus to signify its open doors for those who enter.”
Mila: “Thanks for sharing, Kristina. I had the opportunity to visit the Belkin Art Gallery with Lia. We were able to see art by a local artist representing freedom, reclamation of land and identity in other places of the world.”
Lia: “I got the chance to learn quite a lot about different art pieces and what they represent from visiting the Belkin Art Gallery. During our walk through, and as I said in my post, the exhibition was speaking to the idea of absent narratives, and this really tied into the idea of the shadow tree because it invites us to consider the scale of the trees that once existed on the land that UBC resides on. Since the shadow tree was placed where it is now, it creates a conversation between presence and absence, culture and nature, past, present and future. And invites us to ask questions like why was it decided to have the shadow tree on the pavement and walked over rather than looked up to? And Why has a living thing been represented as a still or restless image? What does this tell us about the species and the land we are on?”
Mila: “I think that these are all great questions showing our inquiry process, Lia. I love that our inquiry has sparked such curiosity and wonder for our group. In what other places did we explore public art throughout our inquiry? What did we learn from those places and artworks?”
Lorantiya: “I had the opportunity to see how public art has this powerful effect in my own neighbourhood as displayed in a post we made titled, Public Art Pieces that Reclaim our Land and in My Visit to Central Park. Here it became clear that public art surrounds us everywhere in both city and natural environments and when we take the time to look carefully and do a bit of research there is meaning and purpose behind every piece and its location. This was the case with many totem poles placed around Vancouver in the case of the totem pole by my apartment, the Host Signs on the UBC campus and the guardian angel statue at Central Park.”