(Submitted photo/Interior Health).

By Aaron Schulze

RIH Cultural Wall

Kamloops Indigenous artist Chris Bose chosen to lead design of RIH’s cultural wall

Jan 31, 2022 | 11:16 AM

KAMLOOPS — An Indigenous artist has been chosen to lead the design of the cultural wall for the upcoming Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Tower at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH).

In a news release Monday (Jan. 31) morning in partnership with Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (TteS), the Secwépemc Health Caucus, the Two Rivers Métis Society, and the RIH Foundation, Interior Health announced Chris Bose, a Secwépemc and Nlaka’pamux multi-disciplinary artist and Kamloops resident, the lead artist.

Bose is a founding member of the Arbour Collective, an Aboriginal arts collective based in Kamloops, and is a facilitator of community arts events and workshops.

“I’m thrilled to be given this responsibility, to bring together so many different cultures into one artistic representation,” Bose says. “There is incredible artwork represented in all of the Nations in this area. To have art that represents our people in the hospital, it means a lot. To be able to show the culture of the different Nations and help make the hospital more welcoming to our people, that is our goal.”

Interior Health says the wall in the patient care tower will be an artistic representation of Secwépemc traditional territory and honour guest Nations to the region.

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Bose will engage with members of the Nations whose traditional territories surround RIH, including the Secwépemc, Dãkelh Dené, Tsilhqot’in, Northern St’at’imc, Nlaka’pamux and Syilx. Bose is also working with the Two Rivers Métis Society in Kamloops and Métis Nation BC and has engaged with Inuit Peoples living in the area.

TteS Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir states she’s pleased a well-known and talented artist such as Bose will lead the design.

“We have every confidence in Chris’s ability to complete and capture the essence of who we are within Secwepemcúlecw, showcasing our beautiful territory,” Casimir says. “We see the wall project design as an opportunity to educate, create awareness and take steps towards meaningful reconciliation, while providing inclusion to us, as the direct local First Nation, and to all Indigenous clients of RIH.”

The cultural wall will be located on the first floor of the Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Tower. The tower is expected to open in July 2022.

Interior Health says funding to support RIH’s cultural wall will be provided by the RIH Foundation.