Slow down and take a walking tour of outdoor art on the UBC campus. Guided tours feature selected works from UBC’s Outdoor Art Collection and vary in length from 1 to 1.5 hours. Tours are conversational, participation-driven and can be adapted for a wide range of ages and groups. If there are other works or themes you are interested in discussing, please contact Naomi Sawada, Manager of Public Programs at naomi.sawada@ubc.ca.
90 minutes, 1.5-2 km
The Decolonization Tour highlights site-specific artworks by Indigenous artists and raises questions around issues of place, space and identity. Considering how these works address urgent social and political concerns, we’ll discuss ideas of settler colonialism, decolonization, reconciliation and the history of UBC’s Vancouver campus, which is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.
Includes works by:
This tour is offered regularly throughout the winter and spring. Below are the dates for January through April.
Tours are free, but because space is limited, booking a spot in advance is required. To book a spot please email belkin.tours@ubc.ca, and specify the tour date in your email.
Can’t make the dates above? Decolonization Tours can be booked in advance for groups of ten people or more by contacting Naomi Sawada, Manager of Public Programs at naomi.sawada@ubc.ca. For private tours, we are currently fully booked until April.
Before joining us on the Decolonization Tour, we encourage you to read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
1 hour, 0.5 km
The Ecologies and Economies Tour highlights artworks that engage with themes related to both social ecologies and the natural world, and people’s relationship with their surroundings on campus. We’ll discuss ideas around nature, culture, climate change and social change.
Includes works by:
The Ecologies and Economies Tours can be booked in advance for groups of ten people or more by contacting Naomi Sawada, Manager of Public Programs at naomi.sawada@ubc.ca.
For all tours, please wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella in case of rain.
Don’t have time to book a tour? Enjoy a self-guided tour at your own pace.
Download a copy of our Outdoor Art Tour book (PDF) and qeqən: Musqueam House Posts book (PDF) or pick up a copy at the gallery. Suggested routes take about 20 minutes to walk, while a full tour of all the artworks takes about three hours.
Stop by the Belkin to pick up a guide to Musqueam house posts on campus, researched and written by Jordan Wilson.
[more]Discover UBC’s outdoor art collection on this cycling tour, organized by Wesbrook Village and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Register at discoverwesbrook.com.
[more]Join us for a tour of selected works in the Outdoor Art Collection on UBC's Vancouver campus. Taking place during the 2021 UBC Homecoming weekend, the tours will centre on questions of home, territory, and relationships to the land that UBC's Vancouver campus occupies, which is the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. This year, we are offering two tours. Tours can accommodate up to fifteen people, and slots will be reserved in advance on a first-come first-serve basis.
[more]In conjunction with the inauguration of The Shadow by Esther Shalev-Gerz, we are excited to offer a tour of UBC's tree collection, led by Egan Davis, Chief Educator at the UBC Botanical Garden.
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