Canadian War Museum welcomes War Brides on Mothers’ Day
May 1, 2007 |
Canadian War Museum welcomes War Brides on Mothers’ Day
Ottawa, Ontario, May 1, 2007 – In conjunction with the opening of its newest special exhibition, War Brides: Portraits of an Era, the Canadian War Museum will host a special welcome for war brides at 2 p.m. on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13. Some 300 war brides are making the journey to Ottawa for this special afternoon of big band music and dancing.Join host Kathleen Petty of CBC’s Ottawa Morning, exhibition artist Bev Tosh, and His Worship Larry O’Brien, Mayor of the City of Ottawa, who will officially proclaim May 13, 2007 as “War Brides Day” in the City of Ottawa.
Music will be provided by Big Band Caravane and Janet Field-Mose with dancing by Swing Dynamite.
WHAT: War Brides Welcome
WHERE: LeBreton Gallery, Canadian War Museum
WHEN: Sunday, May 13 at 2 p.m.
COST: Free
MUSEUM HOURS AND ADMISSION
Open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 13. Admission is free to the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in celebration of Museum Day. For more information, 819 776-8600 or toll free 1 800 555-5621.
About the War Brides: Portraits of an Era exhibition
More than 44,000 British and European women came to Canada as the wives of Canadian service personnel at the end of the Second World War, accompanied by over 21,000 children from these marriages. The story of her war bride mother inspired artist Bev Tosh to paint a striking portrait, which is one of the key works in the War Brides exhibition. That first portrait led Tosh on a journey to meet 1,000 and to interview and correspond with 500 war brides. The resulting exhibition, War Brides, contains six major groupings of paintings and multimedia installations based on the war brides’ stories of romance, adventure and personal experiences. Seventy-five nearly life-sized portraits form two installations called “bride ships” – referring to the 60 vessels that transported the women from Britain, mainly, but also from Holland, Italy, Belgium, and France. Incorporating photographs, projections, parachutes, shoes, hatpins and other materials, the works portray these courageous women who took a leap of faith and came to Canada.
War Brides: Portraits of an Era is organized by the Canadian War Museum in collaboration with Bev Tosh. It will be presented in the Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae Gallery from May 12, 2007 until January 6, 2008.
Information (media):
Christina Selin
Manager, Communications
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819 776-8607
E-mail: christina.selin@warmuseum.ca.
Pierre Leduc
Media Relations Officer
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819 776-8608
E-mail: pierre.leduc@warmuseum.ca.
2007-05-01 00:00:00.000
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