National competition finalists.
Veterans Affairs Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, National Capital Commission

Jacqueline and Nancy are honoured to be the artists on Team Hapa Collaborative:
Joseph Fry, Team Lead & Principal
Benjamin Herwig, Veteran
Jordan McAuley, Veteran
Lucas Holy, Emily McKenna & Shaheed Karim, Hapa Collaborative

Our team envisioned a monument embedded in the landscape, a sheltering place that honours the commitment and sacrifice of Canadians in helping to rebuild Afghanistan, provides a space for personal and communal remembrance and renewal, and encourages visitors to learn more about Canada’s Mission. The monument is informed by enduring metaphors of the garden and the labyrinth that are rooted across time and place and culture: historically, walled gardens embodied ideas of sanctuary, paradise, community, security; the labyrinth is a metaphor for the inner journey.

This emotionally compelling, visually striking, and timeless monument interweaves ceremonial and informal ways of use, the heroic and the reflective, the private and the shared. It is a place for people to gather, to take pleasure at being in a contemplative and communal space - and to reflect on how this kind of experience was really the point of Canada’s mission to Afghanistan: to help bring peace to a war-torn country. Our veterans talked about how they believed that “where there is conflict there’s potential for connection“ - we hope this Monument becomes a place of understanding, for the individuals involved, their families, and Canadian society as a whole.