Happy Victoria Day! We headed out to Steveston, a fishing village in Richmond, for a spot of cycling along the South Dyke trail, some fish-shopping (straight off the boats) and of course, some play.
There is a fair amount of history (for Canada!) along the South Dyke trail, with a heritage farm and shipyard you can visit, though we didn't on this occasion. The most interesting heritage find was, however, Finn Slough, a tiny fishing settlement along a backwater, so called because its original settlers were Finnish. Now 30 people live in little houses raised above the water on stilts, reached by a weathered looking wooden bridge.
Funny how real life can make you think of art. These little houses reminded me of some art that can currently be seen in downtown Vancouver by Ken Lum, an offsite project by the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Here's what the art gallery has to say about the work:
For his sculptural installation from shangri-la to shangri-la at Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite, artist Ken Lum constructs scale replicas of three squatter’s shacks from North Vancouver’s Maplewood Mudflats settlement. Lum recreates the cabins of renowned writer Malcolm Lowry, artist Tom Burrows and Greenpeace leader Dr. Paul Spong. Propped up on stilts over the surface of the Offsite reflecting pool, the huts strike a sharp contrast with the surrounding downtown architecture. Located at the foot of the Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver’s tallest building, these structures evoke the character of the mudflat community and draw attention to the advance of urban development in the Lower Mainland.
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