Giant pandas have finally come to Vancouver... as public art

Sep 30 2017, 3:51 pm

The tarp has come off downtown Vancouver’s newest public art piece located in front of the main entrance of the new Parq Vancouver casino hotel resort.

A pair of giant pandas are the centrepiece of the roundabout in the Smithe Street extension serving the new resort, which officially opened its doors to the public on Friday night.

‘Slow’ public art. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Dubbed ‘Slow’, the stainless steel art piece is a larger-than-life-size depiction of two panda bears – a baby bear strolling with its mother. This piece is anything but small; it is roughly five metres long, three metres high, and four metres wide.

Chinese artist Zhang Huan, the designer of the art piece, is well known for using stainless steel as a primary material for his statue designs.

‘Slow’ public art. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

According to a release, Huan’s pandas are “meant to eulogize eternal maternity and family while expressing expectations of a future, and expresses the artist’s understanding of human nature and his thoughts on love and eternity.”

The art piece was funded by the resort and chosen by a selection committee comprised of members from the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Institute of Asian Art, the Rennie Collection, and the Contemporary Art Gallery.

Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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