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Articles
Connecting a Nation
Colours and Cultures Woven Together A bold, textile art Project is a big, bright reminder that in this country it's not hard to find someone nearby who is from far away. On display now at the Surrey Art Gallery is the Qailt of Belonging, which highlights our rich multicultural fabric with 263 hexagon squares spread across the 36 melres by 3.5 metres tapestry. Included are 70 squares from First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. The project's director and designer, Esther Bryan, found volunteer contributors from Victoria to Newfoundland who had ties to Places from Andorra to Zambia. "Ordinary people are actually quite extraordinary," says Bryan, - as she recounted her quest search for volunteers that only included a very few artists. "People coming together through the piece is really symbolic - it's a large metaphor' In the works since 1998, the quilt had its debut in 2005 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que. Since that grand unfurling, the multi-material quilt has been the star attraction in some 21 shows across the nation. "The thing that really thrills me is how it impacts other people Bryan says ofthe quiltthatwillmove on to Montreal after its time in Surrey. l'It's in textbooks, studied in schools' It's so rewarding!' While the quilt is a strong reminder ofour colourful, cultural fabric, Bryanbelieves it also reminds people that they matter. "I reallly believe real change starts with the grass roots, with regular people," says Bryan' "'The quilt repiesents how people can be better connected to each other." Interestingly enough, that idea of connection had to be sold to some of the contributors. "We had a lot of issues of trust. There was a lot of talking, a lot of back and forth," says Bryan,-who pointed out that there were many issues why people didn't want to participate. "Some people thought this would never happen - it was too big of an undertaking. There was mistrust from certain ethnic groups about how they were going to be represented. There were people who didn't want to be involved because another country was involved and there were immigration issuesl' Those who decided to go forward with the proiect did so with some real zeal. Some actually brought back items to use from their homelands - things like an antique silver toka from Macedonia, and cloth from Kenya and Norway were used in the squares. "It became clear to people that the world was going to see it so they wanted it to be authentic" she savs. Bryan, who got the idea for the quilt after taking a trip with her fatherto his homeland of Slovakia in 1995, sees the project as a type of historical record. "lt's in a way of saying the past matters" 'she says. Raised by missionary Parents, Bryan spent a gteat part ofher early life travellingr so that trip to her father's homeland was very profound for her. "Belonging, I realized, was a big issue for me," says the Williamstown, Ont., artist. "I realized then it was a universal need for humansl'
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