Christopher Columbus and Fane Island

This statue of Christopher Columbus as a boy sitting on the dock at Genoa dreaming of being an explorer used to stand on Clark Drive in East Vancouver. It was presented to the city of Vancouver as a present from the city of Genoa. When I was living in this neighbourhood in the nineties it was a controversial piece of public art and was covered in political graffiti. The statue was moved to Hastings Park Sanctuary in 2004.

I recently unearthed some photographs I took of this statue and thought it would be fitting to show the young Christopher contemplating the beauty of Pender Island, part of the traditional lands of the Tsawout Nation, looking back on centuries of settlement and colonization.