Canadian War Museum presents contemporary military art from the Canadian Forces Artists Program

MEDIA RELEASE

Ottawa, Ontario, February 13, 2020 — For more than 100 years, official war artists have created an invaluable record of Canadian military service. The Canadian War Museum is proud to present an exhibition of works carrying on this important tradition. The Canadian Forces Artists Program – Group 8 presents works by the most recent group of civilian artists to deploy with the Canadian Forces. The artists selected for Group 8 deployed entirely on Canadian soil, with many of the artists travelling to operations in the Canadian North.

“Military art has long played an important role in depicting Canadian history,” said Caroline Dromaguet, Acting Director General of the War Museum. “We are pleased to be presenting a display of works created by CFAP artists at the Museum. The works created by this particular group of artists reflect contemporary themes that resonate broadly, and will contribute to an understanding of what it means to serve with the Canadian military on the home front.”

The exhibition showcases the thought-provoking work of the six civilian artists chosen to deploy with the Canadian Forces between 2016 and 2018. Philip Cheung, Rosalie Favell, Aislinn Hunter, Simone Jones, Emmanuelle Léonard, and Andreas Rutkauskas observed search-and-rescue operations, avalanche control, and multinational military exercises. As with all CFAP participants, the artists in this multidisciplinary group maintained complete artistic independence over the works they produced, both during and after their deployments. For this exhibition, 22 photographs and three videos were selected by the Museum, in consultation with the artists. The exhibition also includes a drawing by Inuit artist Timootee (Tim) Pitsiulak, who participated with CFAP in 2010.

Canadian Forces Artists Program – Group 8 was created by the Canadian War Museum, in partnership with the Directorate of History and Heritage, Department of National Defence. The exhibition will be presented at the War Museum from February 14 to May 18, 2020. This is the second time that the Canadian War Museum has hosted a CFAP exhibition.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national and international dimensions. Work of the Canadian War Museum is made possible in part through financial support of the Government of Canada.

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Media contacts:

Avra Gibbs Lamey
Senior Communications and Media Relations Officer
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819-776-8607
avra.gibbs-lamey@warmuseum.ca

Yasmine Mingay
Director, Public Affairs
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819-776-8608
yasmine.mingay@warmuseum.ca