This Globe and Mail article quotes Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner:

“Culture is an essential element of the identity of a nation and in that sense, will always have its unfailing support,”

And yet…

“The Stabilization Projects, to be shut down in April, were established in seven cities from Victoria to Charlottetown to provide financial and administrative support to arts organizations….”

“The department also plans to end its annual contributions of $300,000 to the A-V Presentation Trust, $1.5-million to the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund and $2.5-million to the National Training Program in the Film and Video Sector…”

Yes, it’s all good, Mr. Harper. Image: conservativehome.blogs.com

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, hitting the arts where it hurts. Boo.
Image: boontastic.com

VoCA finds it depressing - no, it’s deplorable - to think, that at a time when virtually EVERYONE not living under a rock recognizes the importance and value of the arts, from former British PM Tony Blair (Cool Britannia, anyone?) to Toronto’s mayor David Miller (Nuit Blanche, Luminato…) to the late Ken Thompson (who gifted so many wonderful pieces to the AGO), to the thousands annually who crowd the streets at Canada’s arts festivals in every major city of the country…

…that our Prime Minister still doesn’t get it.

From Simon Houpt’s article in today’s Globe and Mail:

“Late on Friday, while attention was focused on the DFAIT cut, the government quietly said it was also ending Trade Routes, a $9-million program run by Heritage Canada to help artists take their work abroad.”

“It’s hard to overstate how low a profile Canada has abroad. If that’s the way the government wants it, that’s their decision.

But if we want our voice to have influence in the rest of the world, to be the moral beacon we believe it is, that requires marketing Brand Canada. Sending artists and writers abroad is an integral part of that marketing that happens to be extremely cost-effective…”

Read the full article HERE.

Read the full Canadian Press release HERE, and copied below.
VoCA warns that the Harper Government is spinning the issues, trying to deflect attention and hoping you won’t notice the dramatic cuts to the arts.

VoCA has noticed, and we don’t like it. We urge you to make your pro-culture vote count in the next election.

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1. SAMUEL ROY-BOIS: Let us, then, be up and doing; With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, Still pursuing; Learn to labor and to wait

Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver

June 13 – August 24, 2008

Samuel Roy-Bois, J’ai entendu un bruit, je me suis sauvé/I heard a noise and I ran, 2003.
Image: samuelroybois.com

ARTIST TALK: Thursday, July 24th at 7pm

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1. NEWS: CALGARY

Dennis Oppenheim’s sculpture, Device to Root out Evil moves to Calgary from Vancouver.

Dennis Oppenheim, Device to Root out Evil. Image: metamedia.stanford.edu

Originally celebrated by the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale and arguably the most valuable piece of public art in Vancouver, Oppenheim’s compelling 22-foot glass, steel and aluminum structure became more than the Vancouver Public Parks Committee could handle.

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OTTAWA:

Carlton University Art Gallery

Michèle Provost: Selling Out
Ron Giii: Hegel’s Salt Man
Nanuit: The Polar Bear in Inuit Art

5 May – 24 August 2008

Ron Giii, Atomicus Removing The Atomic Space, 1985. Image: paulpetro.com

RON GIII: Coming from the University of Toronto, this survey exhibition of the brilliantly-named Ron Giii’s work features early work, performance documentation and other ephemera, a selection of his voluminous writings, and more recent drawings and oil stick paintings.

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Winnipeg photographer (and VoCA favorite) Sarah Anne Johnson is the winner of the inaugural Grange Prize for Contemporary Photography.

The annual $50,000 prize is the largest of its kind in Canada and the only prize entirely determined by the public. The AGO will present an exhibition of Johnson’s work in the spring of 2009.

Sarah Anne Johnson, Clearing the Yard, 2005. Image: bulgergallery.com

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The artist A.A. Bronson, former member of collective General Idea and presently director of New York’s Printed Matter Inc. has been rejected by the University of Manitoba for the position of director of the School of Art.

VoCA thinks that the shortsightedness of the University has resulted in an unfortunate missed opportunity.
A real shame.

A.A. Bronson. Image: artnet.com

Following are excerpts from the job posting from the university’s human resources department, A.A.’s letter of interest (removed), his C.V and finally, a letter to the Other Gallery’s Paul Butler (removed).

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1. NEW DIRECTOR AT THE WAG, WINNIPEG:

Dr. Stephen Borys has been appointed as the Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery - Dr. Borys’ new home. Image: glasssteelandstone.com

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Manitoba Arts and Culture Week: March 8 – 15

Manitoba arts and culture week is a week-long showcase of arts and cultural activities. Dance, theatre, music and the visual arts are celebrated throughout the province. Here are some interesting exhibitions on in Manitoba:

For the full schedule, please click HERE.

1. ALICIA POPOFF: PRAIRIE MEDITATION at the Ken Segal Gallery.

Mixed media works by the artist about her experience of life on the prairies.

Alicia Popoff, Space Whorls, 2006. Image: kensegalgallery.com

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Subconscious City at the Winnipeg Art Gallery
8 February – May 11, 2008

Diana Thorneycroft, Audition for Eternal Youth, 2007. Digital photograph (triptych).
Image: wag.mb.ca

Subconscious City, currently on view at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, is an exhibition filled with a lot of quiet, quirky pieces, but the show’s impact comes through loud and clear. With an impressive, diverse roster of both emerging and established artists working in a variety of media (including video, painting, ceramics, and electronics), Subconscious City attempts to examine and explain Winnipeg’s curious civic identity.

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