Boat
This handmade boat was presented to the Government of Canada on Sept. 10, 1980, by which time at least 60,000 of the hundreds of thousands of those who became known as “Vietnamese Boat People” had been resettled in this country. Many other refugees had died at sea.
This is a scale recreation of a refugee boat, like those used after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. It measures 69 centimetres in length and 38 centimetres in height and was gifted to Canada by former refugees in the Cheras camp of Malaysia. The detail of the sculpture is intricate and impressive, with a cabin and upper deck, masts, riggings and pulleys and anchor.