A new "cultural wall" at Royal Inland Hospital lead and designed by Kamloops-based Indigenous artist Chris Bose.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Chris Bose

A bright Indigenous-themed mural is now at the atrium in the new Royal Inland Hospital Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Tower.

Secwepemc and Nlaka'pamux artist Chris Bose is the painter behind it, but he said there are a lot of people who contributed to the piece.

“I painted it at the Kamloops Art Gallery where many others would come in and add a dab of their own paint to it,” he said. “All contributors’ names are written in the top right corner.”

The new "cultural wall" is made up of five, 4’ by 8’ sheets of birch plywood that were set up last week. 

New cultural mural being set up at Royal Inland Hospital last week, July 2022.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Chris Bose

While the First Nations elements included in the large art piece carry important traditional and historical significance, Bose said at the heart of the art is simply an element of fun.

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“It is instant gratification, you don’t have to look too hard at it to figure it out,” Bose said. “It is fun, bright and uplifting. I made it really playful and represented all the nations, including symbolic animals and pictographs.”

When Bose was initially commissioned by the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation, he went to different First Nations representatives in the area to find out what elements they thought should be incorporated into the artwork.

“There is a lot of flow involved to the art and to the process of creating it,” Bose said. “We are a river city. Rivers were our highways, our trade and travel routes, and our way of life. It is where we get our salmon and other fish, so rivers are important.”

Bose said he came up with his sketch and started painting the mural at Kamloops Art Gallery where he held sessions where other artists could come in and add to it.

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“I made it open and collaborative,” he said. “Two girls from Ukraine came in and painted the deer and otters. A couple from Australia added to it along with Indigenous friends, Metis and elders. At one point I had three generations adding to it.”

The mural took about a month to complete and was funded by the RIH Foundation.

Bose is a multi-disciplinary artist, known in the Kamloops art community and is a founding member of the Kamloops-based Indigenous art collective, Arbour Collective.

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