SFU Public Art

Controversial Charles Comfort mural will no longer be displayed at SFU

By: Alison Wick, Arts Editor In 2004, SFU acquired a 19-metre-long, $600,000 colonial artwork painted by Charles Comfort, receiving it from the Toronto Dominion (TD Canada Trust) bank’s Vancouver headquarters. The painting, called the British Columbia Pageant, immediately sparked protest among the SFU community and the public; the painting is not only a misrepresentation of British Columbian history, but it offensively portrays Indigenous Peoples as decorative and passive. This week, the massive painting is finally being taken down and put in storage. [caption id="attachment_110292" align="aligncenter" width="700"] The British Columbia Pageant, above, has been hanging in above the Images theatre in…

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