War artists showcased
Posted Nov 9, 2011 03:15:59 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Remembrance Day is almost upon us and the Canadian Forces Artist Program is preserving the memory of the military through art.
Since the program was launched in 2001, 42 civilian, professional artists, have been deployed to places like Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Egypt and the Canadian Arctic. Five of those artists were showcased Wednesday at the Cartier Square Drill Hall.
“The war artists usually have a bigger point of view, they can get more places, they can do more things,” says Sharon McKay, an artist involved in the program.
McKay went to Afghanistan in 2009 to conduct research for her young adult novel Thunder over Kandahar.
She was one of three artists at the exhibit.
Dick Averns was also present, he worked alongside Canadian peacekeeping troops deployed with the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Erin Riley traveled north in 2009, photographing and conducting interviews in the Canadian Arctic.
“The first thing I thought was, oh my god, what am I going to do here,” she says. “It was just endless white.”
The program is in the midst of recruiting, artists have until Nov. 30 to apply. Those selected will participate in some sort of military-related exercise for seven to 10 days.
