Art Matters Forum Held in Conjunction with the Presentation
of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts

Rideau Hall, Tuesday, March 24, 2009

We are delighted to welcome you to this edition of Art Matters, created as a space for dialogue, sharing and reflection on the arts and culture.

These Art Matters forums are a way for us—for Jean-Daniel, me and our entire team—to ignite an electrifying and unifying atmosphere around the presentation of the Governor General’s Awards, this time in honour of the visual and media arts.

I believe it is important that we begin by reading the names of this year’s recipients—nine incredible, energizing individuals who light up Canada’s cultural landscape through the visual and media arts. After all, our artists are the very essence of creation and the very people we are celebrating with these awards.

Many of them have honoured us by joining us here this evening, and I would like to ask them to stand as I say their names:

John Greer
Nobuo Kubota
Kevin Lockau
Rita McKeough
Robert Morin
Raymond Moriyama
Kim Ondaatje and Tony Urquhart
and Gordon Smith who, unfortunately, could not make it this evening.

Let’s give them a warm round of applause.

What place do we give the works of art that our artists offer us, that express their unique view of life and that bring us together around a singular experience?

Are there innovative ways of making those works of art that convey such meaning, such emotion, such engagement even more accessible to the public, such as large-scale events or new technologies, which are able to reach a much wider audience?

Is it the artist’s role to create a link with the community, or is this something that should fall to museums or arts and culture organizations?

These are just some of the questions that we will try to answer tonight.

Take, for example, this official residence, where it is our great fortune to live and work.

Every year, thousands of visitors pass through its halls and have the opportunity to appreciate Canadian art in all its richness and diversity, be it works of art by children, like the Spirit of Place exhibition in the Ambassadors’ Room, or works by renowned artists.

In this ballroom, the country’s highest honours are awarded, including the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts and a multitude of other disciplines.

This is also where the governor general presides over the swearing-in of Cabinet.

Last November, we made the bold decision to install this monumental work, born of the generosity and talent of one of our greatest Canadian painters, Objiway artist Norval Morrisseau.  

If you don’t mind, let’s pause for a moment to reflect on what this painting calls to mind in this room, where we celebrate excellence, courage, creativity and our citizenship and democratic values.

This painting by Morrisseau, bursting with dazzling light, opens a window in this very European-inspired room.

It opens a window onto the encounter of civilizations that shaped our history, not in conflict this time but in harmony. 

It is as though a dialogue has been initiated between two worlds that foreshadowed our destiny.

What is even more extraordinary is that this work of art restores the memory, traditions and legends of the First peoples, who are our deepest roots in this land, not just in this official residence, which has been home to every governor and governor general since Confederation in 1867, but beyond, out into the public space.

More than once, it has made the headlines and served as the backdrop of photos taken during ceremonies and in images captured by television cameras.

It is incredible how a painting can become a statement, can influence or change our perception of things, how it can influence and change even how we interact with one another.

A work of art can convey meaning and express a great deal. It can create a space for and give a voice to those who have been excluded for far too long.

I believe profoundly that works of art do more than just bring a little beauty to the places in which they are displayed. They give those places a sense of greater harmony and meaning.

That is where the true power of art resides.

In that ability to reveal to us the full spectrum of the human experience, our weaknesses as well as our strengths.

To inspire us to ask questions and to reflect.

To broaden our vision of the world and at times call it into question, even if it means challenging conventions and preconceived ideas.

Which is why I think it is so important that we take this time to reflect together on the scope of images in our society and the place we want to give those images that our artists have entrusted us with and that enrich our lives.

I would also like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its tireless support of our artists and its invaluable collaboration in organizing this Art Matters forum, which we have opened up to the public this year.

I will now turn things over to my closest collaborator, Jean-Daniel Lafond, who has turned thought into a place of freedom, art into a way of life, and the camera lens into a world view.

Jean-Daniel, if you please.