Mayor seeks a review process for public art that spurs anger
HAMILTON’S
MAYOR wants to listen to your complaints about public art.
Fred Eisenberger will pitch the creation of a formal review process next week to tackle complaints about statues and artwork that spark anger — particularly installations perceived by some to “represent oppression.”
The pitch comes as statues of historical political leaders across Canada — including Sir John A. Macdonald in Gore Park — earn new scrutiny, in particular over how their namesakes treated Indigenous people.
Eisenberger argued such concerns, complaints and even requests to remove art installations are “likely to occur more often” as cities and other levels of governments grapple with the complicated legacy of Canada in the colonial era.
“I’d like us to get out ahead of that and come up with a fair process … to avoid knee-jerk reactions,” he said.
“It is very important to have some policy guidelines assessing … municipally owned art through an anti-racist lens.” COUN. AIDAN JOHNSON
“Before we start dismantling anything, let’s have a process.”
The mayor’s motion asks city staff to develop a formal review process for public art complaints, including consultation with relevant experts and “communities of concern,” and bring the proposal back to council.
Coun. Aidan Johnson said he worked with the mayor over the summer on the idea.
“I think it is very important to have some policy guidelines assessing … municipally owned art through an anti-racist lens,” said Johnson, who is heavily involved in the rollout of the city’s urban Indigenous strategy.
Creating those rules won’t be easy, he noted, because of the “complexity” of issues surrounding art, including individual interpretation, historical context and perceptions of racism.
“But it is a conversation we should be ready to have,” Johnson said.
The Ward 1 councillor said the idea of a review process first came up after he was asked to pass on someone’s complaint about the depiction of Indigenous people in a 1960s-era, heritage-protected mural in City Hall.
The Things Worth Remembering mural by Karl and Lauretta Dix, which depicts various imagined scenes from Hamilton’s history, includes an Indigenous father showing his son how to use a bow and arrow in the margins of the painting.
Johnson said he was initially unsure where to direct the complaint, eventually passing it on to the city manager’s office.
(The complaint is under review, but Eisenberger said he’s hoping it can be resolved through the proposed review process, if it goes ahead.)
The city has more than 30 major pieces of art and monuments on display in public places — and so far, the mayor is unaware of a formal complaint about Sir John A.
But the 124-year-old bronze statue of Canada’s first prime minister has long been a target of Indigenous protest over Macdonald’s perceived role in the creation of the reviled Indian Act and residential school system.
Christine Joseph-Davies, president of the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre, earlier told The Spectator the statue is a “big problem for many” in the Indigenous community.
She also protested by letter last year when Macdonald was suggested as a possible option to highlight in a library exhibit dedicated to iconic Hamilton historic figures.
At the same time, a local historical society is known for holding commemorative birthday celebrations for the colourful politician in Gore Park.
In Halifax, officials are also struggling over what to do with a prominent statue of city founder Edward Cornwallis, who offered a bounty for the scalps of Mi’kmaq people in the 1700s.
Late last month, Sen. Murray Sinclair weighed in.
The former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called it “counterproductive” to focus on removing building names and statues, instead urging more efforts to publicly honour Indigenous heroes.
“I’d like us to … come up with a fair process … to avoid knee-jerk reactions. MAYOR FRED EISENBERGER