Siksika Nation artist to design Canada-Afghanistan war monument

A Siksika Nation Indigenous artist has been chosen to design a national monument for Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.

Adrian Stimson and his team have been working on the project for years, and he says the concept of individuality is integral to the memorial’s purpose.

“A lot of monuments don’t have the names of all the soldiers involved, and this one does. It was the importance of remembering them in this particular conflict,” he told CityNews.

“If anybody goes to a monument, that sort of special moment of seeing their loved one’s name is something that really resonated with me.”

The medicine-wheel-inspired monument will feature the names of all 158 Canadian military members lost in the conflict.

Stimson says the reality of varying experiences is critical in the structure’s design.

“We’re going to use a digital strategy through QR codes and stuff that are embedded in the space for people to access various perspectives,” he explained.

“And then you have the two walls with the Canadian perspective and the Afghan perspective.”

Stimson is a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces Artists Program. In 2010, he travelled to Afghanistan, where he learned about the war and the daily lives of Canadian soldiers.

“For me, right away, I was thinking of the base. Home base and that sense of home,” Stimson recalled.

“I think, certainly soldiers, when they’re in the theatre of war, are thinking of home.”

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The design was selected by more than 10,000 people, many of whom served in Afghanistan or were related to armed forces members.

Stimson hopes the installation will create an opportunity for education.

“I hope they gain a greater understanding of the conflict itself and how Canada was involved. And the loss, of course, of life and remembering those soldiers. The fallen,” he said.

Construction on the Ottawa-based monument is expected to begin in two to three years.