When you visit the local section of any bookstore in Vancouver you will find the titles both simple and repetitive, and they will fall in the following categories: trails in British Columbia, architecture of Vancouver and some anthologies of local artists, photographers and visual artists –mostly already canonical and dead. You may also find indigenous legends and stories that tell about their cosmogenesis through drawings and designs.    

There’s plenty of information about the nature and the past. However there’s not a single volume about the people of Vancouver in the present. There is some “historical” or mystery/crime novels a la Eve Lazarus, there’s also historical idealized accounts of Vancouver from back when it was a “real Canadian city” (read: white), photographs of everyday life embodying the the nostalgia of the golden 1950’s, young and hairy SFU students protesting against the Vietnam war, or the melancholy of a parochial life now lost. In any case there seems to be no interest in the people that share and perform the city every day and every week.  

But the fact is that there’s no current Vancouverite stories. There’s no people in the present worth writing about or perhaps not even worth thinking about. There’s long dead people worth reading about but there’s no interest in learning about the current day Vancouverites. It seems that nature and architecture are the only topics deemed of interest for the reader today.  

I wonder why this is the case? Why in a city so “diverse” and “dynamic” there’s seems to be a lack of interest in ourselves, in our past and what led us to this place?  Perhaps we’re all too consumed by work and there’s no time for indulging in this non-profitable interest. Perhaps there’s no desire to listen to each other or maybe we only do when it’s about how depressing the weather is or how difficult it is to afford a house. Perhaps we’re all too used and shaped by a habit of keeping to our business and out of other peoples’ lives. Or it may be that we are so prejudiced against each other that we simply find no interest in our neighbors –much less in the the newly arrived, the other. It may be the case that the city is not so dynamic or diverse after all, or that even with diversity we find no real reason to learn about our neighbors and weave a community. Time is always scarce, bonding needs are always tamed and suppressed. Introversion and a thinly disguised laziness win over the act of opening not to simply meet new people, but to prospect of creating habits that lead to friendships.   

Learning about this, but mostly feeling it led me to ask myself about Canadian societies, the impact of immigration, and probe for possible answers to this lack of interest.

As a result of this I decided to write a sort of ethnography and compile a critical exploration of different immigrants to Canada specifically to Vancouver who have found a place where they could begin a new life. My goal is to interview and to write about people who share a common thread: movement, reinventing oneself, and pushing the boundaries of their known worlds. These are individuals, who hail from many diverse countries and backgrounds and who have dedicated their efforts to discover new worlds for themselves and their dreams. Some have chosen Vancouver other have adopted as their permanent home by chance or circumstance, but all have been successful in creating something new based and inspired by the city.

All of them have had past lives that often go unsung. Some sailed across the Atlantic, or Pacific Oceans, other served in their national military, others had their fair share of odd jobs that added colour and texture to the fabric of their lives. When we live long enough as is the case these days, we can live many different lives, and these lives are often forgotten in our rush to growth professionally, to have a standard career, with a standard CV. The persons I write about are in reality many more than initially thought. They, like most of us, have learned to morph, to find new vocabularies, to create from scratch and from the past.

My goal is not to produce a text that is focused only on struggle and misfortune but to achieve a combination of struggles and successes. Not all newcomers suffer equally and some perhaps do not suffer at all but they still have something to say about their experiences. I plan to include a cross-cut of Vancouver society by included privileged voices as well as those we tend to ignore. I will include the experiences of denizens of the East Side, as well as those of West Point Grey and Shaughnessy.

Although these are stories of immigrants and I highlight the dynamism of their lives there’s a paradox at the heart of the project. There’s a contradiction that resides in my documenting project as well as in their many past trips and movements. Their lives have found a place to rest and growth. The constant movement that has characterized their lives is now finish and the city has allowed them or coerced them into settling and cultivating in one place. Likewise, the book, which is concerned with movements and life changing events is written from a place and anchors their experiences or their encounters with the author in specific concrete places. Perhaps the past was movement, and the present is permanence in one place. Perhaps not, their journey is still unfolding, and Vancouver may be a temporary place in their overall vital experience.

Why this project? Vancouver is a city that needs social and interpersonal integration. We often hear about the beauty of the city and its surroundings. But seem to forget or underplay the equally recurring complains and expressions of disappointment, dissatisfactions with the social life of the city. It seems that the visible beauty of the city is analogue to the invisible discontent many feel. I believe that reading about others’ stories can help close the gap that sometimes separate us as individuals with different backgrounds and experiences. 

By reading about the struggles and life journeys of others we can empathize with them and understand them better. Understanding of different habits and behaviors is the first step towards reducing prejudices and negative predispositions. I have been living as an immigrant for the most part of my life. I lived ten years in the United States and seven years in Vancouver. My experience as an observer of social dynamics between “native” or “locals” vis-à-vis immigrants allows me to identify patterns and differences and places me in a position to better understand the nature of this relationship and propose new ways to improve it.   

I believe the city could benefit from this project because it will remind us that we are humans that we share many values and that all of us harness all our efforts from similar goals: we seek for safety, education, growth and prosperity. Once the book is finished my next goal is to submit an exhibition proposal to the Museum of Vancouver to create an exhibition that adding photographs and visual art to selected fragments of my text and make these project more accessible and “visual” to wider audiences.

As a trained historian, I am aware of the historical injustices committed towards minority indigenous groups in British Columbia, Canada and all of America, North, Central and South. In addition, my background as a product of the Colombian conflict made me painfully aware that these experiences are real and still happening. These injustices not only affected the social but the aesthetic. Hence my project will strive to include voices of under-represented communities: racialized minorities, religious minorities, and women of color. I believe that art and representation are powerful tools when advancing common goals such as inclusion and diversity. My goal is to create a text that resembles the faces of Vancouverites in all their multiplicity and splendor.

I believe that my project has potential for advancing the goals of so called “reconciliation” due to the fact that it directly highlights the “newcomer” nature of the subjects and makes evident the need to be cognizant of the land in which they built their lives and the ways in which it was appropriated by earlier settlers. Once this connection is clear the audience will draw their own conclusions about the need and the nature of reconciliation with the indigenous and original stewards of the land. I will conclude each interview by asking them what is the meaning of achieving their dreams in this city and how they reconcile their personal gains with the latent violence of original expulsion and destitution of the first nations inhabiting the territory.

In the next few weeks I will be posting excerpts of the profiles I chose to interview. Men and women from different backgrounds, belonging to different generations and with differing points of view regarding life in Canada, and in Vancouver. You might find yourself in one of these posts, but if you don’t, you can still be a part of this by sharing any suggestion or idea or complaint. Feel free to write to my email found in the About section of this blog with ideas or reservations.