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Banskà Bystrica, Friday, November 28, 2008
It gives us great pleasure to open an exhibition of contemporary Canadian works of art here in Slovakia, a country we are delighted to be travelling in and discovering as part of this State visit.
We are here in the heart of Europe, at the crossroads of ancient, traditional and rich cultures.
Cultures that have also set down roots in Canada through waves of immigration.
Cultures that nourish our identity and our desire to express ourselves.
This exhibition, Images and Reflections, was created with this meeting of cultures and willingness to share in mind. It is presented by the Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts of Calgary, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.
We believe that, regardless of the form it takes, art is always a space for dialogue and bringing people together.
Our diversity is displayed in this space, in an explosion of languages, rhythms and colours, and a willingness to experience life using all our senses.
Take these works.
What are they conveying?
A sense of here and here, of travelling and setting down roots, of developing close relationships and meeting new people.
They linger with us beyond these walls, sometimes provoking us, shaking our certainties and forcing us to think and see things a new way.
That is why art is an inexhaustible source of renewal.
In this era of unprecedented openness, when we are asked to redefine the ties that bind us, I believe we need arts and culture more than ever to invent different ways of living together, establish a bond of solidarity and evoke a feeling of belonging in all of humanity.
May this exhibition bring people together and may it be a promise of friendship between the people of Slovakia and the people of Canada.
Thank you.