Public Art Registry
Inukshuk
Photo: Barbara Cole
Inukshuk - photo by Barbara Cole
Bidwell and shoreline walk
English Bay
Shoreline walk, foot of Bidwell, E. of bathhouse
Gift
1986
Granite boulders
Sculpture
In place
City of Vancouver
Commemorative
Description of work
Built of stacked granite blocks in a human form, Inukshuks are symbols of welcome in the north. This one weighs 31,500 kg. It is built of gigantic rocks and stands 6 meters high.
Artist statement
The welcoming figure was made on the Inuit model for the NWT pavillion designed by Bing Thom and "shaped like a five-story igloo" at Expo 86. The figure was sited at English Bay after the fair. The stones were brought in from a quarry in the Fraser Valley and then shaped and stacked by crane and pinned together with rebar. Inukshuks in the north are usually much smaller and the rocks are balanced on each other. They act as sign posts or distance markers that can be seen on the flat horizon. Artist Kanak said, "By a lake an Inukshuk means lots of fish." The figure is a "reminder of the ingenuity of my people in addressing transportation and communications challenges prior to the introduction of modern technology." (sources: M.Farrow, V.Sun, April 24, 1985; V.Province, May 5, 1985)
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