Four Boats Stranded: Red and Yellow, Black and White

The Vancouver Art Gallery:

            The Vancouver Art Gallery is one of downtown Vancouver’s most important landmarks. In 1931 the Art Gallery was founded on Georgia Street but relocated in 1983 to an old provincial courthouse due to increased demand in size for the art collection. The Vancouver Art Gallery now is located in the old provincial courthouse building surrounded by Georgia, Howe, Hornby, and Robson Street making it a central and easily accessed public building. The Building is currently going under its third renovation to increase the size for increased demands of art work while serving its 99 year lease.

The Vancouver Art Gallery is the most popular meeting place for political statement and protests due to the architecture of the building (open court yard and central location), and the hybrid nature of the building being both a social and political hub due to the history of being a court house and art gallery. Most Vancouver resident know the building for its art and politics. What is truly special about this landmark many individuals would not even see in less they were looking for it.

            On top of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s roof there are four boats coloured red, yellow, black, and white.  The models consist of a First Nations Longboat, Captain Vancouver’s ship, the Komagata Maru, and a Cargo Ship that recently carried migrants from China’s Fujian Province. Each boat is painted a colonial stereotyping colour of the races, cultural, and historical identification. The First Nations boat is painted red to represent the First Nations population that first inhabited Vancouver lands. Captain Vancouver’s Ship is painted white, to represent the Anglo-Saxons that explored and built settlements in Vancouver and the West Coast.

The Komagata Maru is painted black to stereo-typically represent the infamous 1914 Indian Immigrant ship that traveled to Vancouver’s port by denied entry of the passengers into the city. The boat sat in the water anchored for days before it was forced to return back to India denying 356 immigrants into Vancouver.

The Fujian ghost ship was painted yellow to identify the Oriental population that is part of Vancouver’s diverse population. The boat is the replica of the cargo ship from 1999 carrying refugees as part of people smuggling ring based in Fuji.

            Ken Lum, a Vancouver born artist created the work to serve as a directional, geographical, and historical marker that is primarily concerned with the socio-historical and cultural aspects of Vancouver. He wanted the boat to represent the poly-cultural beginings of Vancouver and hard ships everyone had to endure to become Canadian citizens. He wanted the prejudice that was experience in our history displayed and not to be forgotten, and to point out that where we are now today as a culture. The boats may go unseen by many individuals but once the reason is discovered the landmark serves as very different purpose then just housing pieces of famous art and a meeting ground for protests. The Boats serve as markers of the history, development, setting, and the character of Vancouver as a poly-cultural community today.