I attended a presentation this week by Peabody Award-winning writer and broadcaster, Jowi Taylor, about his project Six String Nation. During the presentation Jowi explained how, in the weeks leading up to the 1995 Quebec Referendum, he was dismayed by the quality of the iconography portrayed by the media as representing the Canadian identity. These symbols were hokey in nature and, to him, seemed to fall short of being the embodiment of what it meant to be truly Canadian. Things like Tim Horton’s coffee, souvenir figures of Mounties, loons, bottles of maple syrup, etc. Jowi realised there was an opportunity to create something bigger than the sum of its parts, something new which had the potential to become a symbol of Canada. So he came up with the idea to create a musical instrument made from various materials, all of which held some value relating to present day Canada, or were of historical importance to the nation.
That was how the idea behind Voyageur—an acoustic guitar made from 64 pieces of Canadian history and heritage—was born, and the ensuing fundraising project which sprang from the concept was called Six String Nation.
Jowi’s presentation went into more detail about how Voyageur came into being, from conception to completion in time for Canada Day 2006, where it made its debut on stage in front of a huge crowd on Parliament Hill. His story on how all the parts of the guitar came together, along with some video footage of interviews with the people he met along the way, was quite touching.
The guitar itself was at the presentation and we all got to see it, as well as hear it being played by Paul Royes, a professor at George Brown College. Then there was a photo session after Jowi’s speech, in which I had my picture taken with this piece of Canadian history.