Revealing Presence
Augmented Reality WALK
Revealing Presence is an Augmented Reality project taking place on the unceded lands of the Lekwungen speaking peoples, now called Victoria BC. The project aims to make visible the stories and histories of peoples and events from the past, which continue to affect our relationships to the land and to each other. Five artists – Kemi Craig, Lindsay Delaronde, Colton Hash, Eli Hirtle and France Trepanier – have created works at specific locations, revealing the stories and unheard voices of these places. All of these works can be viewed on phones or tablets* by using the Adobe Aero App (iOS) (Android) and scanning the QR codes found on this printable pamphlet.
*Devices must meet certain criteria to run Adobe Aero and require an internet or data connection.
Project Descriptions
Eli Hirtle -
Kwetlal
Location: At Meegans (Beacon Hill Park) down from the flagpole on Dallas Rd.
Kwetlal, the Lekwungen word for Camas, evokes ideas of connection to and stewardship of the land. Pre-contact, Camas was an important part of Lekwungen culture, as a food source and commodity for trade. Colonization has deeply affected those relationships, but the connection to Camas for Lekwungen peoples persists. As an Indigenous person whose ancestry is not from this place, I cherish the ways that I have been able to learn about this plant and the history of these lands from Lekwungen community members. To honour those teachings and this land, I have beaded a Camas flower, to represent my nêhiyaw (Cree) heritage. My project will also feature an audio recording of Lekwungen Knowledge Keeper Cheryl Bryce, speaking about the importance of Camas for her community.
France Trepanier -
Can You Hear Them?
Location: On the lawn of the Empress hotel facing the main doors.
In collaboration with Nathan Creighton-Kelly, 2022
Can You Hear Them? is the title of an augmented reality (AR) public artwork inspired by the history of Lekwungen territory. This piece speaks more specifically to the many waterways – creeks, bogs, streams, marches - that used to meander across the south of Vancouver Island. The First People of the land – the Lekwungen Speaking People - navigated these waters in dugout canoes. These water passages were particularly useful during the winter months when the high tides and surging waves made it dangerous to travel along the exposed south coast.
Most of the traditional waterways have been drained, covered or built over. One of them, named the Empress Creek by the colonists, flowed from the wetlands where Cook Street Village currently stands, connecting the inner harbour to Ross Bay. In 1904, the construction of the Empress Hotel began. Wetlands were drained and the Empress Creek was culverted. The Empress Creek still runs through the subbasement of the Empress Hotel today.
Some streams are still alive under the layers of asphalt and concrete. Several of them flow throughout the city, even if now they are hidden from sight.
Can you hear them?
Colton Hash -
Engines of Change
Location: Harbour Road Railway Bridge
Railway Reflections uses augmented reality to visualize the proposed return of passenger service to the E&N railway. As viewers stand at the end of this abandoned rail line, they can view the approach of a commuter train to its terminus station. Information for the proposed commuter and intercity passenger services will be presented in virtual space along with a 3D rendering of the train. However, viewers may look beyond this depiction of future infrastructure, turning around to view the Victoria harbor and the original Lekwungen village site. Through Railway Reflections, viewers will see historical maps and documents over surrounding landmarks that provide the colonial context of the E&N railway and its role in the dispossession of indigenous territories.
Kemi Craig - Rerooting
Location: Bricks in Bastion Square
In this work, Craig uses collage alongside speculative narrative and BC Black history to activate bricks on government street used to commemorate some of BC’s first Black colonists. Viewers will be able to click on different points on the image to hear a short story about the lives of one of these individuals or families. In the act of remembering and/or documenting histories, how do both the stories we tell and the ones we erase shape our current, daily acts of narrative building.
LINDSAY DELARONDE - ODES TO THE QUEENS
Graciously and honoured to be invited to lay my embodied memory of family and culture respectfully on Lekwungen lands
Location: Statue of Queen Victoria in front of Legislature.
Humming in the kitchen cooking meat pies
filling your nails by the window
looking through your history
hanging branches of the weeping Willow blows
even when a Queen dies.
I always try to copy your signature
when I was a little girl
I honestly still try now and again
I could never be me without you
even when a when a Queen dies.
When I was asked in Confession
the nature of my sins since
I told the priest that my greatest fault
was fighting with you
we slept together in the same room
and I always love you
even when a Queen dies.
You came through the door that day
dressed all in black
with your hair slicked back
and you reminded me of me
you are the Capricorn of my life.
Even when a queen dies
I remember when you were born
the nurses put you in my arms
you didn't cry
your eyes open
your spirit present
and you were like…I am here.
Generation like you
are coming from the stars
to rebuild the nation
even when a Queen dies.
When you would give us tobacco
in our little hands
I remember the feeling of it my little fingers
Sweaty
sticky
I would crumble it into the bowl to be burned
I watched your shawl sway
the way you moved your shoulders
you are the matriarch
even when a Queen dies.
Deep oceans of mystery
lay in the brightness of your blue
speak to me daughter
so I can know how to sail your seas
I always desire to know you
even when a Queen dies.
Your tenacity is weapon
your tact is intact
guns loaded-pressed on forehead
no
not you
no more
the cycle stops here
keep pushing into the tender heart
of your grandfather
I walk with you
even when a Queen dies