A Sense of Place. Robin Laurence

Granville Island. On that momentous day, as it came to rest at YVR, and with the later bless-ing of the Musqueam First Nation, on whose traditional territory the airport is located, the sculpture found its permanent home.

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      The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe has since become a touchstone for travellers from all parts of the world, and an anchor for YVR’s renowned collection of British Columbian First Nations art.

      The sculpture’s first casting had been given a black patina and was installed in 1991 in the Chancery of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. A second and final casting, patinated in blue-green to evoke the naturally occurring jade of British Columbia,1 was completed in 1994 and purchased by

      Vancouver Airport Authority for placement in its new International Terminal.2 Among those witnessing the installation of this celebrated work, widely known by its subtitle, The Jade Canoe, were airport and museum officials, architects and contractors, as well as the artist and his wife. Seated in a wheelchair, ailing in body but strong in mind, Bill Reid seemed to be the living embodiment of the journey depicted in his sculpture. An ancient and enduring culture was being revalidated, old stories were being reinterpreted and new materials

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      sculpture, Reid explored the levels of meaning conveyed by the canoe and those aboard it.)3The journeying theme, imposing scale and lively passengers of The Jade Canoe are beautifully suited to a busy international airport. And, in fact, the airport is beautifully suited to them.

      Over the past two decades, the Airport Authority has designed new and expanding passenger terminals around the large-scale artworks it has commissioned, rather than dropping the pieces into previously built spaces. This innovative strategy has led to a wondrous unity of art and architecture rarely seen at airports before. Of special note is the Musqueam Welcome Area at the entrance to the Canada Customs Hall in the International Terminal, created to convey the presence as well as the greetings of the Musqueam people. It is of the highest significance that iconic sculptures by Susan Point and beautiful weavings by Krista Point, Robyn Sparrow, Debra Sparrow, Gina Grant and Helen Callbreath are among the first artworks encountered by international travellers arriving at YVR. While expressing the cultural traditions of the Coast Salish peoples, the sculptures and weavings also speak to YVR’s Sea Island site, in the estuarial mouth of the Fraser River, traditional Musqueam territory. The water cascading through the Musqueam Welcome Area signifies the salmon-bearing

      and techniques were being explored. As a high-profile artist of mixed Haida and German-American descent, Reid was an important bridge between cultures when non-Native people began to take notice of the indigenous art of the Northwest Coast in the middle of the twentieth century.

      The form and content of Reid’s sculpture were inspired by nineteenth-century miniature canoes carved in argillite, a black sedimentary stone mined on Slatechuck Mountain, on the densely forested archi-pelago known as Haida Gwaii, “the Islands of the People.” Created by Haida artists for trade with visitors to the Northwest Coast, argillite works (including platters, bowls, boxes, pipes and miniature poles) often drew their subjects from long-held aboriginal themes and stories. In the early years of Reid’s career, when he was educating himself in classical Haida style and techniques, he had closely studied such objects in museum collections.

      The work was also informed by the artist’slate-life experience collaborating in the carving and launching of a suite of full-size cedar canoes. The metaphor of a vessel, crowded with crest figures and myth-time creatures and travelling to an unseen destination, resonated deeply with Reid — and continues to resonate with those passing through YVR. (In a poem titled “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii,” written to accompany the

      The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade CanoeBill ReidSEE PAGE 34

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      river that is of such great importance to the First Nations people of the region. Travellers from afar enter the city of Vancouver, the province of British Columbia and the country of Canada by passing through lands etched with millennia of aboriginal history.

      The public area of the International Terminal, where Reid’s sculpture stands, was also designed around the artwork. Conceived as a town square encircled by shops and restaurants, the area functions as a public space where people pause in their journeys to eat, drink, shop and contemplate The Jade Canoe and the voyage it symbol-izes. More importantly, however, Reid’s sculpture communicates its power within YVR’s thematic master plan, the intention of which is to evoke the natural beauty and the cultural heritage of British Columbia, creating a memorable portrait of a particular place. For many visitors, YVR provides both their first and last impressions of British Columbia.

      The architecture and interior design of the International and Domestic Terminals reiterate the province’s natural forms, materials and colours, while the art emerges from and directly represents its Native cultures. In tandem with the powerful works commissioned for the Musqueam Welcome Area, the arrival of The Jade Canoe signified an enduring commitment from YVR to collect and display First Nations art of

      British Columbia. Performing an additional and wholly practical function, aligned with traffic flow, orientation and way-finding, major works have been placed at gates, portals and other spots where important directional changes are made by travellers. The Jade Canoe, the most photographed sculpture at YVR — often described as the heart of the airport — provides a popular meeting place for both locals and visitors navigating the terminal.