Murray Wood: Of Easter bunny bells and Juicy Fruit gum
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A colourful bus shelter now stands at the corner of Adelaide Street and Preston Avenue South in Saskatoon, featuring the artwork of Indigenous artist Vanessa Hyggen.
The Lac La Ronge artist created the structure in collaboration with the City of Saskatoon and several families and community members of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) to coincide with Sisters in Spirit Day.
During a ceremony at Market Mall on Wednesday, Hyggen talked about what influenced her, including inspiration from her own experiences with a friend who had gone missing.
“You never forget those moments when you realize the vulnerability of your sisters and your friends and your mothers, your cousins, your aunts. You never forget when you go past those spots where they went missing,” she recalled.
She said her mother hounded her and her sisters about sticking together when they went out.
“I knew that this would be a challenge to create a piece that would be meaningful enough for something so deeply impactful and tragic, but I was willing to take up that challenge because it is so important,” she added.
“There are still so many friends and families without answers.”
Hyggen cited Mackenzie Trottier and Happy Charles as two of those women.
She met with some of the families of missing women and took weeks to digest their stories before coming up with ideas for the artwork.
During a ceremony at Market Mall on Wednesday, Lac La Ronge artist Vanessa Hyggen spoke about what influenced her for the bus shelter project. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)
“I came up with what you see outside,” she said.
The images on four panels cut out of steel show families looking for answers, smoke from a smudge stick that continues into other panels displaying northern lights, a silhouette of a woman, and a woman holding a rattle with an eagle above her.
The shelter’s ceiling features the words “The silence is killing us, break the silence.”
Hyggen, who also spoke to Mackenzie Trottier’s and Megan Gallagher’s family members in the audience, said she hoped her art could bring a small voice to their tragedies.
“If there’s anyone out there that does have any answers for any of these families, we ask you to please come forward,” she said.
The new shelter is one of five displaying Indigenous artwork across the city.
