Do you remember the first few weeks of the pandemic? It was a surreal time as people scrambled to understand the shifting social landscape while shoring up their sense of safety.
As in many places around the world, we here in Vancouver were also being advised to isolate. Businesses shut down and boarded up their windows. People sequestered themselves into small ‘bubbles’ or retreated into solitude. Our downtown core became a quiet and still place for a brief moment in time.
For this gallery exhibit, we’ve paired an original composition by Clare Morgan with photos from Christina for a pandemic reflection. The composition and photos were created during the spring of 2020.
Tonight (Quarantine Hymn No. 2) by Clare Morgan
This hymn is the first in a series that Clare wrote after becoming aware they were going to see something unprecedented in their lifetime.
Lyrics
Evening birdsong at my window
Solo under a deep blue sky
Chanting Vespers in the halo of the neighbour’s backyard light
Coaxing stars to open sparkling silver eyes
Tonight in this solitude, I’ll let you be my guide
Tonight I’m gonna let your voice be God’s
Rainbow gradient of sunset
As I take the trash outside
It’s still cold but springtime whispers on my skin, ignites my blood
To better days, I pray, like summer are icumen in
Tonight with anxiety I’ll let you rock me sweet
Tonight I’m gonna let my heart be God’s
Tonight with uncertainty I pray we’ll be all right
Tonight I’m gonna let my heart be God’s
So much fear and pain and hatred
So much loneliness and pride
So much history to make amends for, so much trust to sow
At least we know now that we need each other to survive
Tonight with uncertainty I pray we’ll be all right
Tonight I’m gonna let my heart be God’s
Tonight when it matters most and I am stuck inside
Tonight I’m letting hope grow wings and fly
Images of Temporary Murals in Downtown Vancouver by Christina
Meet the Artists
Clare Morgan (they/them) is an Anglican priest and artist living, working, and loving in unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ territory. They serve as pastor to the St. Brigid’s congregation at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, community director and co-chaplain of Hineni House, an intentional spiritual community of young adults affiliated with St. Margaret’s in the Cedar Cottage neighbourhood in 2017, and as a musician among the Inayati Sufi community in the Pacific Northwest.
Christina is a queer, disabled photographer and writer living, creating, and working in Vancouver. She has been blessed to grow up on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples – specifically the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Christina is passionate about building strong communities and making art accessible for everyone. Through her photography she is writing a love letter to Vancouver.
