The Agnes guided audiences through Canada’s history using the power of art at the Frances K. Smith Public Talk in Canadian Art last Sunday.
The talk, which was held at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre on Oct. 4, was named after the first curator and Curator Emeritus of the Art Centre. The event highlighted the works of famous and iconic Canadian artists. It also featured two speakers, Dr. Christine Boyanoski and Sarah Milroy.
Boyanoski, an independent curator and writer, has focused recently on Canadian art from the Hart House collection. The second speaker, art critic Sarah Milroy, co-curated the exhibit From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia.
Pat Sullivan, the public programs manager at the Agnes, introduced the speakers and provided insight into the Hart House collection, which was curated by the University of Toronto.
“Canada’s first native-born governor general brought Hart House into being as a social, cultural and recreational venue for students,” she said. “The exhibition discusses not only the reputation of this collection, but also [provides] the opportunity to take a fresh look at the artist Emily Carr.”
Dr. Boyanoski’s talk focused on the Hart House collection. She said her enthusiasm for curating the show stems from her experience with the collection as an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto.
“These works are like old friends of mine,” she said. Boyanoski added that the Hart House collection was one of the best collections exhibiting the time period of the 1920s to 1950s. The highly written about collection was her way of portraying Canadian history, she added.
The next speaker, Sarah Milroy shifted the focus towards a particular artist — Emily Carr. Milroy spoke about Carr’s personal life, which she said translated into the artist’s works.
“Emily Carr was a feminist. She just wanted to live her own life. She was, in fact, not a nurturer. She very deliberately showed that she was not a wife, not a mother,” Milroy said.
She also spoke of Carr’s other artistic interests, one of which was writing. Her writing was often poetic and beautiful, but included occasional glimpses of self-doubt and uncertainty.
Near the end of her talk, Milroy discussed the politics surrounding Carr’s status as a Canadian icon.
“On a more superficial level, her pieces were obviously aesthetically beautiful, but I don’t think that fully does justice to the politics that surrounded her,” Milroy said.
“Her popularity was, in a way, an act of exoneration. We [Canadians] felt a responsibility after the discrimination towards Natives.”
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