Canada’s largest outdoor installation has found a home in Westminster Pier Park.
Barry Mowatt, founder of the Vancouver Biennale, said WOW New Westminster is the largest installation in the 2014 to 2016 Biennale. The 140-foot long installation by Brazilian artist Jose Resende, thought to be the largest public artwork in Canada, consists of four 40-foot shipping containers positioned to form a W.
“Containers circulate in abundance and are an integral part of the urban landscape of New Westminster,” Resende said in a press release. “Their presence is an evident index of the city’s vitality.”
The city anticipates the piece will provoke conversation around New Westminster’s historic identity as a hub of shipping, industry and transportation in British Columbia. In early discussions about the public art installation, WOW New Westminster generated considerable community debate – with some people questioning the artistic merits of the piece.
Stephen O’Shea, executive director of the Arts Council of New Westminster, welcomes WOW New Westminster.
“In terms of the theme, I think it’s appropriate for something like that to be there,” he said. “Not everyone is going to appreciate the artist’s interpretation of that.”
O’Shea said he saw a lot of public art in communities when he travelled across Canada with his band. While there will be naysayers, he believes it’s beneficial to create public art pieces that inspire the imaginations of children.
“It puts us on the map,” he said. “It is one of Canada’s largest pieces of public art,”
Marcello Dantas, senior curator for the Vancouver Biennale, said Resende is one of Brazil’s most-respected artists and has a 50-year career in developing sculptures of grand scale that defy gravity.
“Resende’s WOW Westminster is not only an interpretation of the economic activity of the Fraser River and the flow of goods through trains, ships and trucks, it’s also about capturing the energy and history of this transportation hub, the transformation of the City of New Westminster and its waterfront into a recreational arts and cultural playground,” Dantas said. “WOW Westminster will become a respite for citizens and an icon of the city and region for decades as viewers explore the riverside walk along Westminster Pier Park.”
The official unveiling takes place on Saturday, Nov. 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes speeches and a ribbon cutting at 11:10 a.m., followed by guided tours of the three Vancouver Biennale installations on the waterfront hourly from 11:30 to 2:30 p.m.
“Families and the community are invited to come and participate and enjoy a walk along the riverfront from one Biennale installation to another,” Mowatt said. “There will be commemorative buttons etc. for those who attend.”
New Westminster is now home to three Vancouver Biennale installations, as Public Furniture/Urban Trees by Hugo Franca was installed on the waterfront esplanade in June and Blue Trees by Konstantin Dimopoulos arrived in October.
“The collaboration between the city and the Vancouver Biennale has been a successful one,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “The various outdoor installations have created memorable spaces and experiences for both residents and visitors alike.”
As part of the city’s participating in the Vancouver Biennale, council approved $90,000 for the program, which includes the three installations, street banners, educational and cultural programs and more. The Vancouver Biennale later asked the city for additional funding of up to $40,000, as a result of “unanticipated extraordinary expenditures” related to the installation of WOW New Westminster, with those funds coming out of public art reserve fund.
