Friday, March 19, 2010

vacouverisms- memorials

I have been thinking about memorials and how that works with Vancouver's image. As I was doing research it seems like most of the findable memorials in Vancouver are either War memorials, pet memorials or annual events instead of a dedicated monument. I then started thinking about Vancouver as a tourist destination and researched what one visiting here with no prior knowledge would find. It all came down to Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is central to Vancouver's image but it is also a home to many memorials, monuments and tributes to Vancouver's history. Stanley Park holds memorials for Air India, Japanese soldiers in WWI and Queen Vicotria. Yet it also holds plaques, busts, Sculptures, gardens and more to celebrate things that created Vancouver today. Including a bust of Lord Stanley, a tribute to the Beaver Cairn, Shakespeare Garden and Lumbermen's arch to name a few. Individuals are honored - both nation figures and local heroes- such as Queen Victoria, Lord Stanley, Harry Jerome a local runner, Pauline Johnson a local poet and more. The park also holds space for the recognition of industry central to Vancouver life such as the Lumbermen's Arch and its recognition of BC's lumber industry and Edward Stamp memorial which acknowledges the lumber operations began within the park. We see a variety of events and people presented in different mediums within Stanley Park. Perhaps it is the diverse nature of celebration seen here in the Park that define Vancouver and its various back grounds.

If you want to see pictures of any of these monuments in Stanley Park you can find them here: http://vancouver.ca/Parks/parks/Stanley/landmarks.htm

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this, Megan. This helps contextualize why Stanley Park remains such a vexed place for the siting of new memorials.

    Peter

    ReplyDelete