Downtown Van in collaboration with the Vancouver Poetry House, is thrilled to launch the summer installation of the “Art Overhead” series!
We will be kicking off our Art Overhead installation series this year by celebrating Pride month with colourful translucent letters forming an excerpt from SJ Valiquette’s poem “Pride,” which will be casting beautiful shadows on the Robson Square Plaza during the summer months. The installation will be up from July 31st to September 30th, 2024.
Photography Tips
- Make sure to visit between 10 AM – 2 PM as the sun will be at its highest point and the reflection of the poem will be in its best form.
- If taking a photo from below, the words will be mirrored. Flip the image to get the correct view.
Pride
by SJ Valiquette
Love, hold my hand
have the audacity to
stand with me screaming
we are here this is real
yowl it loudly
or hold it quietly
it is ours and they will
know without question
we are here
filled with pride.
Read the full poem here. Learn more about Vancouver Poetry House.
ARTIST BIO
SJ Valiquette (she/ they) is a poet, photographer, actor, apiarist, and audiobook narrator originally from Treaty 7 Territory; now residing on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. They have been a member of the Canadian spoken word community for over a decade and have competed at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam, and the Bigfoot Regional Slam in Portland. Her next collection knick-knacks/ things no one is saying is coming out in 2025 with Nightingale and Sparrow.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“The first version of this poem was how I came out to my community. I wrote it in my early twenties when I was in my first open queer relationship and for the first time feeling empowered in my identity and sense of self.
My queerness emerged out of a set of circumstances that are unfortunately dangerously common in our community. I grew up in a rural town, with a lot of religious influence, leading to isolation and self-doubt. It took a tremendous amount of time, love, and support from my community for me to feel grounded in my identity enough to write it all down and speak it into a microphone. This poem was my first outward expression of queer joy and Pride, and by speaking it it became its own proof of legitimacy.
In a world where erasure, fear, violence, and self-doubt erode our self-worth and safety- to be able to revisit this nearly decade old poem, polish it up, and bring it to the present day is a gift. To be able to share boldly and vibrantly without qualification or apology is vindication for every version of me who wasn’t safe to write it.
Thanks to Downtown Van and Vancouver Poetry House for the opportunity to share this work again.”
SJ Valiquette