"Tapestry for Co-Existence"
On view in the public domain since June 1st 2026 at 20 of Vancouver's Transit Bus Shelters
(see list of Bus Shelter locations at bottom of page).
This is part of the 2025 Public Art Project Call:
"The Teachers Among Us..."
My “Tapestry for Coexistence” highlights communal bonds and newcomers’ cultural heritage through original handwritten expressions of mother-tongue languages.
It links to my earlier culturally diverse collaborative work “Proverbial Botany”
20 adult foreign-language speakers of varying age-groups, from Vancouver’s diverse language and culture community, were invited to contribute words
that refer to their mother-tongue greetings. Each expresses an acknowledgement of the “other” that would translate into a simple
“Hallo! Comment vas tu? How are you”?
The 20 "language-fleurettes" are combined with my watercolour drawings of foraged plants to welcome a sense of joy and harmony within a shared environment.
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While acknowledging that this project has opportunity to take place and be seen on the traditional and unceded territories of
the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Local First Nations,
on whose beautiful lands in the Lower Mainland I live, work, and share since 1995,
my sincere gratitude also goes to the “in-kind” collaboration of handwritten greetings from 20 adult Link-4 ESL students
@ MOSAIC LANGUAGE LEARNING CENTRE