Olympic logo misses the mark

This is the logo for the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler winter Olympics. It was unveiled on Saturday in Vancouver.

Now I’ve nothing against inukshuks, and I have plenty of Inuit friends and colleagues, but this is just plain wrong. These Olympics are being held in the territories of the Squamish and Lil’wat peoples, of whom there are many excellent artists. This is a huge opportunity to show the world an image from the rich tradition of west coast art, and instead the Olympic committee chose a figure from a culture that lives thousands of miles away.

Using an Inukshuk to signify winter games in Vancouver is like using the Egyptian pyramids for selling the London bid for the summer games. The two have nothing to do with one another and Vancouver and Iqaluit are separated by about the same amount of distance as London and Cairo.

Given the significant presence of Squamish and Lil’wat and Tsleil-Waututh people in the Olympic promotions, and the fact that there is a big partnership on several of the facilities with these Nations, it strikes me as just plain dumb to use another indigenous symbol to represent the games. For a committee that has been trying to go out of its way to court First Nations, choosing this design says to me that they haven’t a clue what they are doing.

To think that this thing, a smiling inukshuk, is going to be on EVERYTHING including the medals makes me feel sick for the local First Nations artists and designers who have been denied this once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the 9000 year old legacy of their work. The committee has dropped the ball badly on this one. I’m hugely disappointed.