The conclusion of a four-part series at the Art Gallery at Evergreen opened this week with resolution for the fictional narrator "C."
"C" — who can interpreted as "Coquitlam" or "Canada" — wakes up from a dream to find the city a different place.
Gone is the small-town charm and the vast, forested landscapes on the hill. Now, development is in full-swing with Coquitlam Town Centre flourishing and Westwood Plateau dotted with homes.
Curator Gregory Elgstrand, a Centennial secondary grad who leaves the Coquitlam arts centre next month to pursue a master's degree at UBC, points to 1994 as a being a pivotal time for the municipality.
Public policy attempts to capture the historical elements of Coquitlam, especially in Maillardville where an entrance sign with the words "Maillardville Village" is posted; fleur de lis images also abound, a nod to the French-Canadian workers who settled in the neighbourhood a century back.
In some cases, though, the kitschy sentimentality of the designs don't resonate and create a bigger struggle for residents longing for a sense of identity, he said.
Elgstrand highlights the uneasy growth with a third piece in the exhibit by Arni Haraldsson, an associate professor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
His 1994 video installation, titled A Drive Through the Suburbs of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, sits in the front of the gallery display.
Other fragments of the past also appear around Coquitlam, sometimes arbitrarily, Elgstrand notes: Salmon sculptures feature prominently to reference the Kwikwetlem First Nation, for example; the ghosts of Riverview Hospital also haunt Coquitlam's identity.
"C" wonders, "What does a city of the future look like when it is built upon the foundation of an imagined past?"
Still, "C" is ready to move on.
The population boom and the city's need to cater — under difficult circumstances — "is almost like a cautionary tale" on development, Elgstrand said, adding the lack of imagination for planning in the 1980s and '90s is taking its toll.
But despite the choices at the local government level, a strong community emerges and Elgstrand cites this with Laurie Papou's poster for PoCoRococo — an uplifting art show in June 1984 at Coquitlam Centre mall that brought together PoCo secondary students and 25 professional artists.
• Coquitlam, Canada ends Aug. 20. The Art Gallery at Evergreen is open Wednesday to Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Call 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
