Skeins Artists Blanket The City
Blanketing The City is a public art mural series and Reconciliation process designed by acclaimed xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Weaver and Graphic Designer, Debra Sparrow in collaboration with Vancouver Mural Festival. Begun in 2018, the series boldly affirms the resurgence and importance of Coast Salish weaving on these lands, and directly combats the ongoing systemic suppression of Indigenous visual culture.
In the latest series, Blanketing The city IV: Cathedral Square, Debra Sparrow invited master weavers Chief Janice George (Sḵwxwú7mesh) and Angela George (səlilwətaɬ) to collaborate on the design of 7 landmark murals blanketing Cathedral Square Park. Blanketing The City IV: Cathedral Square boldly transmits and magnifies the visibility of xwməθkwəyə̓ m, Sḵwxwú7mesh ̱and səlilwətaɬ culture on their ancestral lands. This project is a deep exploration and implementation of Indigenous visibility in public spaces via a multi-year collaboration between these weavers. Blanketing The City IV: Cathedral Square, is the first semi-permanent public art collaboration between weavers from the three local nations.**
Angela George, Cheif Janice George, and Buddy Joseph held residencies at the Blue Cabin during 2019-2020. In February of 2022, the Blue Cabin looks forward to welcoming Debra Sparrow as the fourth and final Skeins: Weaving on the Foreshore artist in residence.
Image Credits:
Blanketing the City Project – Photograph: Vancouver Mural Festival
Video Still from The Weaving Path Documentary by Vancouver Mural Festival
Blanketing the City Project – Photograph: Vancouver Mural Festival
**Text provided on Vancouver Mural Festival Website