Humber River Bridge | Part 2

There are a number of fine grain aspects, what would typically called artistic interventions at the bridge site. As well as the overarching form that you will see, birds or thunder birds ascending towards the middle of the bridge, you will see a number of other both social as well as natural world artifacts throughout the bridge itself. Underneath the bridge you will see a discussion of the history of the bridge going back to 400 million years ago, pre-glacial time, as well as you will see on the west bank a discussion of the engineering of the bridge alongside the engineering of early canoes. And you can make your own choice as the whether the bridge belongs in the same category as a canoe as far as an engineering work. You'll also see what might seem like official and bureaucratic plaques. But if you look closer at them, that is these two large plaques you'll see at the either end of the bridge, you'll see a very interesting story of colonization. You will see something very similar in the original coat of arms of the City of Toronto as well as the City of Etobicoke, and they inevitably tell a similar story. And that is the official history of land settlement, of early occupation and subsequently of European settlement. And they stand there very much to make evident the multiple histories that exist relative to the official histories you often see in plaques.

Lynne Eichenberg

Want to hear more? Check out Part 3!

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