Buffalo and the Buffalo Fur Trader — which features two large bronze sculptures — was commissioned in 2012 by the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Arts Council at a cost of $375,000. The piece was completed six years ago. On Wednesday, the city announced it will not install river valley art at the north and south ends of the Walterdale Bridge as previously planned. “The city’s decision is based on the possibility that the artwork could be misinterpreted as a celebration of colonization,” the press release states. “While some audiences may find the artwork thought-provoking, others may find it harmful and trigger painful memories. For this reason, it is not intended to be inclusive of all Edmontonians.” The two statues would have been placed on opposite banks of the North Saskatchewan River. (Ken Lum) Ken Lum, the project’s creator, is a 2020 Governor General’s Award winner in Visual and Media and a professor of fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In an emailed statement Thursday, Lum disagreed with messages about the city’s decision. “The project went through tremendous oversight and approval by political officials,” he said. “It’s not as if the project appeared in a vacuum. “Perhaps the city is not ready for a real dialogue about its colonial past and the state of colonialism that continues to mark the present. That was my intention with the project, not to celebrate colonialism as the city suggests.” Lum’s website describes the two sculptures as gazing “warily at each other across the expanse of the North Saskatchewan River,” representing the wisdom offered by indigenous peoples against the “foolishness of the predatory capitalist represented by the hooded white man on a a lot of buffalo.” Lum said he has a long history of writing about Canadian issues through the lens of art and culture, often related to the oppression of First Nations.
Decision-making process
In 2016, the city decided to halt the installation of the artwork until further discussions were held with the community, according to city spokesman Francis Asuncion. The final decision not to install the sculptures was made this month. “In the time between the artwork’s completion and now, our understanding of the impact of historical injustices on Indigenous peoples has deepened as a result of several important events that have taken place in Edmonton and across Canada,” Asuncion said in a statement. She cited the 2018 hearings in Edmonton for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the discovery of unmarked graves in residential schools over the past two years and Pope Francis’ recent apology to Indigenous communities. “In determining the future of the artwork, the administration considered our commitments and our relationships with those most affected by the artwork – the artist and the indigenous communities of the region,” Asuncion said. He said the decision was not prompted by specific concerns raised by members of the public or any group. Jenna Turner, spokeswoman for the Edmonton Arts Council, said the artwork is currently in storage and being maintained by the organization’s conservation department. In 2013-14, consultations took place in partnership with the council, the city, the artist, members of the Rossdale community and the former Wicihitowin Conversation Circle, a city-funded Indigenous organisation. Turner said there was no consensus at Wicihitowin meetings about the appropriateness of the final concept, adding that some members were happy with its direction while others expressed concerns. The next steps have not yet been determined, but will be done in consultation with Lum, he said.
