Vancouver Mural Festival's Blanketing the City brings First Nations art to Shipyards
The seventh annual Vancouver Mural Fest (VMF) is in full swing, and one of the many highlights of this year’s massive arts celebration is the painting of a giant new mural in North Vancouver that tells a forgotten tale of the area’s history.
Blanketing the City V is the latest work in the public art mural series and Reconciliation process designed by renowned xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) weaver and graphic designer, Debra Sparrow in collaboration with VMF, producers of Vancouver Mural Festival and VMF Winter Arts.
Chief Janice George, Buddy Joseph, and Angela George host the latest collaboration with Sparrow to transform an entire building in the Shipyards into a visual retelling of the Great Vancouver Fire and how Indigenous first responders played brought people to safety across the Burrard Inlet.
Artistic rendering of Blanketing the City V: Burrard Dry Dock Pier/Submitted
Before contact, it wasn’t Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh. It was our people,” explained Sparrow in an interview with Daily Hive. “The new mural tells the story of our people actually rescuing the settlers, and it’s one that has never been told before.
“How do we give a vision to the end result which is the city burned down? All that was left was the black charcoal as all the buildings were wooden in those days. What remains after things look dark and hopeless? It’s a good metaphor for what happened to us as a people after the removal of us from our own villages.”
Debra Sparrow, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) weaver and graphic designer and creator of Blanketing the City (@mavreendavid/Instagram)
The fifth Blanketing the City mural is also the first in the series on Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh lands. Janice George and Joseph depict The rescue in their design, Sparrow shows the Aftermath on the south wall facing Vancouver, and Angela George portrays the resurgence after the fire through The wealth of the Land.
“Every time we come together, we learn and grow,” shared Angela George. “It is our opportunity to uphold our responsibilities to weave our Sḵwxwú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm communities together, strengthening the fabric of not only our people but all people, connecting us to our past as well as our future generations to come.
“These collective designs hold the rich and vibrant history of our great land now known as Vancouver and North Vancouver. Viewers have the opportunity to get a glimpse into traditional knowledge systems and values of learning and growing in harmony from nature.”
Angela George/Submitted
Painting of Blanketing the City V will continue over the next two weeks and attendees of Vancouver Mural Fest are invited to see the painters at work.
“This is not about art, it’s actually about the reflection of our history and our integrity,” said Sparrow. “We’re redefining and laying the groundwork for ourselves and our relationships. We are now in a different life and different world, but we stay grounded in the fibres that connect us.
Artistic rendering of Blanketing the City V: Burrard Dry Dock Pier/Submitted
Download the VMF MOBILE APP to find and learn about over 300 murals — including 30+ new murals in 2022 — across the city. Visit https://vanmuralfest.ca/ and follow @vanmuralfest for details, event calendar, and updates for Vancouver Mural Festival 2022.
Vancouver Mural Festival 2022
When: Now until 14, 2022
Time: Various times
Where: Various locations
Cost: Free and ticketed events
Daily Hive is a proud media partner of the 2022 Vancouver Mural Festival
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