Stir 'Splainer: The lowdown on 4 Pride Art Walk works around downtown Vancouver to August 3
From musical steps to air dancers and bi birds, artworks to discover on a self-guided tour
Step With Me. Photo by Gabriel Martins
YOU HAVE UNTIL August 3 to grab your friends and take a self-guided tour of the public art pieces and murals celebrating queer culture in downtown Vancouver.
The Pride Art Walk, curated by Vancouver Mural Fest, spans peacocks, unicorns, and rainbows—all commissioned by Pride Vancouver.
You can find a full map of the work on the Pride app, or check out the map at the bottom.
And here are what the artists had to say about four of the commissions:
It’s fun to sway at the ymca. Photo by Luke Miller
It's fun to sway at the ymca by Zandi Dandizette
At šxwƛ̓ ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square
“It's fun to sway at the ymca reclaims air dancers directly after the dystopian Planet Fitness branded air dancers at the Times Square NYE Ball Drop of 2021. Peter Minshall, an artist from Trinidad and Tobago, came up with the concept of an inflatable dancer, and it was developed by a team that included Israeli artist Doron Gazit and Arieh Dranger, for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Minshall originally called his invention the ‘Tall Boy’. Gazit eventually patented the concept of an inflatable, dancing human-shaped balloon, and licensed the patent to various companies that manufacture and sell the devices. This movement of an art object into a tool for advertising and business is the commodification of art….Zandi reclaims the wacky inflatable man as a business tool back into an art object while also touching on the multiplicity of identity, and celebration of it. This jestful work is a response to the commodification of identity and the corporatization of PRIDE.”
Strut 2018. Photo by Luke Miller
Strut 2018 by Marti Boiven & Karen Oldridge
At Morton Park
“Strut was made for the Vancouver Pride 2018 celebration, was the feature art piece of the event, and received a grant from the City of Vancouver. It debuted at the Vancouver Art Gallery plaza for the Pride Premier celebration, and had it's main showing in the Jim Deva Plaza for the entirety of the Pride Festival.
“The piece is a large scale representation of a peacock, and is meant to represent LGBTQ2AI+ inclusivity. It has kinetic tail feathers that lift and open, and lower and close, by means of a custom designed movement. At night, the body and tail feathers are lit up by means of projectors displaying colourful, moving video loops. Participants are able to interact with the lighting by means of a series of buttons that change the video loops.
“Did you know that many birds are bisexual? As part of the LGBTQ2AI+ community, we wanted to bring awareness to Bi-erasure and bi-phobia. The Peacock is often a symbol used within the community to represent Bisexuality (as they are rumoured to be bisexual). Bi-phobia is a form of discrimination which distinctly affects bisexual people, and is fuelled by stereotypes and misconceptions of the sexuality. Bi-erasure happens when bisexual people are seen as gay or straight and the feelings that come with losing a sense of identity. Even within the Pride community, both are a very big problem. It often either goes unnoticed or is considered unimportant, so we wanted to bring awareness and education about this issue. “
Step With Me. Photo by Gabriel Martins
Step with Me by Tangible Interaction
At Burrard Benches at Bentall Centre
(The interactive installation allows you to activate musical sounds as you walk across the steps at Bentall Centre.)
“Music, dance, and play have brought us together since the beginning of time. While we can talk, promote and elevate acceptance and inclusion, there are not that many places where we can exercise it. There is nothing like gathering in a setting where we can lose ourselves in the moment, where we can make music, dance, and be silly. At the end of the day, it does not matter who we are or what our preferences are. When it is time to have fun and express ourselves, we are celebrating our diverse humanity. Step With Me is our invitation to have fun, be foolish, and celebrate. This is our way of challenging you to be in the moment, no matter how we present ourselves, to accept ourselves and others, and to be proud of who we are.”
Purrride by Galactikitty. Photo by Luke Miller
Purrride by Galactikitty
At Jim Deva Plaza
“Two figures ride blissfully through the cosmos on top of a giant unicorn cat. Moths flutter about, drawn in closer by the light, and everything the unicat touches turns into colour. The journey of this magical trio has only just begun. This piece is not only about the birth story of the artists, Galactikitty, but the celebration of coming together, communities rising above and the transformation into being fierce and being seen for who you really are.”
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