K A R L M A T A H I P O L
Water: Connecting Roots
River District X Vancouver Mural Festival
Vancouver
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July – August 2022
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The mural envisions water as a source of life through an Asian Canadian perspective regarding climate change within the landscape of so-called Canada. Joy Kim’s Illustrated icons of ordinary objects visualize the reality of the boiling water advisory for Indigenous communities and the displacement of roots from those of immigrant communities. Furthermore, how sufficient access to water brings forth beauty and community are visualized through the figures embracing and accepting the element in harmony. Additionally, Karl Hipol's gesture reflects the interconnection of living and nonliving creatures to bodies of water and how environmental issues impact us all. As a symbol of protection, Hipol utilizes the 'Kusikus' or whirlpool pattern from the Abel weaving from the Philippines and hopes to extend the safeguarding effect to the new territory he resides as a Filipino immigrant settler.
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Co-collaborator: Joy Kim
Curated by: Keiko Hart
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Assistance by Khim Hipol
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Photography: Karl Hipol and VMF
fine art
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