Artful Musing |
VIEWS ON VIMY
For some historians, the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge by four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, was Canada’s coming of age, the birth of a nation, as important to us as the American, Russian, and French revolutions are to those countries. Other historians disagree, saying the importance of Vimy is more myth than fact.
So where does the Canadian War Museum stand? Expect a nuanced answer in the exhibitions planned to mark the battle’s centennial. A show of paintings from First World War battlefields will be sent to Arras, a few kilometres from the towering Vimy Memorial in France; a travelling exhibition of mainly text panels and photographs will go to Canadian museums; and the museum’s permanent exhibition on Vimy in Ottawa, focusing on the battle, is being upgraded. But most of the attention will likely be on a seven-month-long exhibition opening April 6 called Vimy — Beyond the Battle.
That latter exhibition, curated by the museum’s Melanie Morin-Pelletier, explores the issue of commemoration — how we do it, why we do it, who we honour, and what are the lasting effects of these decisions. The exhibition opens shortly after the publication of a new book on Vimy by another war museum historian, Tim Cook. Vimy: The Battle and the Legend explores some of the same territory and myth-making as MorinPelletier’s exhibition.
In his new book, and in the Vimy exhibition, Cooks says historians are asking new questions. “We [the museum] don’t say Vimy is the birth of a nation. But people have said it. So we’re trying to figure out why do they say that? Why do people believe that?”
Morin-Pelletier says the exhibition features artifacts that bring the Vimy story to life, including the life-sized plaster maquettes of the marble sculptures of allegorical figures at the Vimy Memorial in France, the goggles worn by Lt. Harold Molyneux of the Royal Flying Corps, and the medals of Vimy veteran Sgt. Masumi Mitsui, a Japanese Canadian interned during the Second World War despite an impressive record in the First World War.
Whatever your opinion on the battle, the fact remains that First World War battles such as Vimy were the first to be commemorated with monuments and plaques in practically every community, big and small, throughout the country, says museum director general Stephen Quick. “The idea of commemorating, of coming together, was new for us on a national level,” he adds. And, as Cook notes, Vimy is the place where Canadians chose to erect their most impressive place of commemoration. The Vimy Memorial has become a symbol for Canada, a place to focus attention, to remember, and to grieve.
So does it matter if Vimy is truly Canada’s most important battle? Perhaps only to the historians.
THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
Montreal photographer Valerian Mazataud, an immigrant from France who became a Canadian citizen three years ago, found the citizenship ceremony “moving” but also off-putting. There were 300 people taking that oath with Mazataud. “It was like a big citizenship factory.” And then there was swearing allegiance to the Queen of England.
Mazataud decided to use his camera to capture his “ambiguous” feelings toward the ceremony. The result is the exhibition called La fin de la terre at Art-Image in Gatineau from May 25 to July 8. Through photos, film, and installation (including a portrait of the Queen), Mazataud presents the highs and lows of citizenship ceremonies. It’s a good time to ponder citizenship issues, this being the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
WHAT IS TRUE? WHAT IS FALSE?
You have probably seen the monumental sculpture Tipping Point by Quebec artist José Luis Torres. This critique of overconsumption is a jumble of brightly coloured plastic household goods exploding from a wall. The sculpture moved around the national capital area last summer as part of a public art program by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Torres will be having a multimedia solo show, including collage and assemblage, at the Karsh-Masson Gallery in Ottawa City Hall May 4 to June 11. Expect some surprises, including some “hints of Tipping Point,” an exploration of “what is true and what is false,” and references to the artist’s own journey from Argentina to Canada.