If you ever see a bunch of naked weirdos frolicking in a park, run the other way – unless you’re in downtown Calgary! There you’ll find 10 very large, very nude individuals of indeterminate gender, enjoying the Alberta sun upon their ebony skin.
Known as The Brotherhood of Mankind, the 6.5-metre-tall naturists were created by Spanish artist Mario Armengol, as part of the British Pavilion for the Montreal Expo in 1967. They originally stood far apart, with each towering over a display of Britain’s ‘gifts to the world’ – government systems, language, Jimmy Savile, that sort of thing.
When the Expo closed, the Brothers were snapped up by a shady businessman whose name has been lost to the ravages of time. He then offloaded them to the City of Calgary for tax purposes, which sounds like people trafficking to me, but you be the judge.
Upon their arrival in Cowtown, officials didn’t quite know what to do with the gaggle of gonad-grabbing guys. So they just sort of popped them in a ramshackle circular arrangement at the corner of 1st Street and 6th Avenue S.E (ooh! I felt so North American typing that) and forgot about it.
The secret sect of sensual siblings, now together at last, soon took on a life of their own.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The members of the Brotherhood – and their members! – sent pulsewaves of outrage oscillating over the good people of Calgary, and it wasn’t just because of the colour of their skin. Their lack of clothing and lithe, sultry, almost irresistible physiques questioned the morals of a city still struggling to find its identity.
“They’re naked,” Sarah Iley, the City of Calgary’s Manager of Culture, deftly pointed out. “This was apparently a source of much anguish when it was originally installed. And people were shocked and appalled and thought it was disgraceful.”
There were riots in the streets. There were protests. But the supporters of the Brotherhood stood just as tall as their bronzed heroes and refused to give in to bigotry. Calgary was dragged, kicking and screaming, into a halcyon era of love and acceptance.
“And now we even think that they relate to each other,” Calgary art curator Katherine Ylitalo explained. “We think one is a female and has some sort of relationship with another. It was nothing the artist ever thought of. We’ve constructed this whole narrative.”
These days Calgarians are fiercely proud of the bare-bottomed Brothers – much as Vancouverians are of their own collection of oversized nudists. As further proof of their progressive nature, there’s even a rudie-nudie Big Head just up the road. Well, it’s not wearing a hat, so is pretty much naked.
In keeping with the spirit of the piece, your friend, the inimitable Bigs Bardot, stripped off and pranced around with the Brothers on a crisp Alberta morning. Although I enjoyed myself immensely, I received some negative feedback from the local homeless population, so have chosen to pop up a more family-friendly selection of photos.
It was cold, guys, it was cold!
