Serafim “Joe” Fortes was an Afro-Caribbean man who in the late 19th century served as a lifeguard at Iy̓eĺshn (English Bay).1 In 2022, a plaque commemorating him on the 100th anniversary of his passing was installed at what is now English Bay Beach by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation. In this audio response, Ruby Smith Díaz considers Fortes’ legacy, exploring the contradictions between his service and position of relative authority, and white supremacy in Vancouver, including controversy on his proximity to whites on the beach itself.
For this response, Ruby Smith Díaz worked with Wayde Compton.
Soliloquy for Serafim
Serafim “Joe” Fortes was an Afro-Caribbean man who in the late 19th century served as a lifeguard at Iy̓eĺshn (English Bay).1 In 2022, a plaque commemorating him on the 100th anniversary of his passing was installed at what is now English Bay Beach by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation. In this audio response, Ruby Smith Díaz considers Fortes’ legacy, exploring the contradictions between his service and position of relative authority, and white supremacy in Vancouver, including controversy on his proximity to whites on the beach itself.
For this response, Ruby Smith Díaz worked with Wayde Compton.
Ruby Smith Díaz is an Afrolatina educator, multi-disciplinary artist and body positive personal trainer. She was born in amiskwaciy, and graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in Education with distinction. Her work as a filmmaker has been featured at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax and at the Vancouver Film Festival. Her writing has appeared in Nora Samaran’s book Turn This World Inside Out: The Emergence of Nurturance Culture and Harsha Walia’s Undoing Border Imperialism. Currently, Ruby spends most of her time facilitating her arts-based Black Histories + Futures workshops in high schools and coaching people of all backgrounds to be their strongest selves.
The 2022 WEDGE Residency, a collaboration between CAG and Ground Floor, supported five early-emerging artists and cultural practitioners as they each explored a research question of their devising, related to the artistic, social or cultural history (and/or future) of “Vancouver.” In their self-directed residencies, the WEDGE residents each worked directly with a mentor to enrich their projects with intergenerational dialogue and exchange.
1 After completing this project, the artist has learned that Serafim Fortes lived at Iy̓eĺshn, and not the nearby Í7iy̓eĺshn as is stated in the recording.
