CREATIVE CANADA

Performance art Live or recorded actions by an artist that may have words or not, and may be invented on the spot or carefully planned. Some of the earliest art in Canada is in the form of petroglyphs — designs carved into rock — and pictographs — designs painted on rock — by First Nations people. Installation A large piece of art made with almost any material, sometimes created for a specific place or a short time. Anyone who’s been to Toronto’s Eaton Centre has seen FlightStop, hanging sculptures of Canada geese by artist Michael Snow. In 1982 the mall put red bows around the geese’s necks for Christmas. Snow sued the mall for interfering with his work and won.

The Canadian Academy of Arts was started in 1880. Queen Victoria added Royal at the start of its name later that year. It’s super-easy to play around with photos now, but in the 1860s, Victoria, B.C., photographer Hannah Maynard was among the first to experiment with tricky techniques like mirrors and multiple exposures — putting the same person or thing in different places in the same photo. “A horrible bunch of junk” “A spilt can of paint” “A drunkard’s dream” - critics’ early reactions to paintings by the Group of Seven “I cannot imagine a more inspiring role than that which the artist is asked to play for the defence and advancement of civilization.” – Paraskeva Clark Not only is the House of Commons in Ottawa the centre of our government, it’s also home to more than 5,000 works of art. Highlights include murals, stone carvings, stained glass and a hall lined with portraits of former Prime Ministers.