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Presentation of the 2009 Governor General’s
Awards in Visual and Media Arts
Rideau Hall, Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Every year, for the past ten years, the presentation of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts has marked a high point in the artistic and cultural life of our society. Not only have we come together to celebrate excellence among this country’s greatest contemporary artists, but we are also raising the profile of the essential and vital role of artists in the minds of our fellow citizens.
Over the past three years, whenever the Governor General’s Awards have been presented, the Governor General and I have used the opportunity to underscore the fact that the arts and culture are the glue that holds our society together. This is what led us to organize 36 Art Matters forums, spaces for dialogue in which citizens—whether artists, administrators or academics—can share their thoughts on the issues facing the arts community today. Last night, we invited the public to join us for the 36th edition of Art Matters, along with the 2009 award recipients, to discuss the theme of “Igniting an electrifying and unifying atmosphere around the visual and media arts.” In other words, we identified various ways and original initiatives to promote the visual and media arts throughout society.
Many of the participants pointed to the unifying and festive side of events such as biennales or the Nuit Blanche in Toronto and Montréal. The artists, however, pointed out that by always trying to bring together the widest possible audience, we sometimes run the risk of overshadowing the artwork itself. The challenge is in finding a balance between the intimate artistic experience and accessibility. The National Gallery of Canada, with its Caught in the Act exhibition, sought to touch the viewer, inviting the audience to be a part of a real sensory experience, just as an artist would be during the artistic process. I was delighted when one of the participants reminded us that art can be sensual and not just intellectual. We heard a strong appeal for Canadians to be able to live the artistic experience every day; for art to permeate advertising on buses, billboards in the street, everywhere, because “art has that power to stay with and to change how we live,” to quote one of the participants.
Moreover, I would like to emphasize that art can be used to break down solitudes and cross boundaries. During Art Matters forums that we have held abroad, the Governor General and I have had the privilege of seeing how important it is to use culture as an instrument of diplomacy—what we refer to as cultural diplomacy and that we practise extensively during every State visit, be it to Brazil, Argentina, France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc. Such use is essential in developing harmonious bilateral relations. Whenever artists and cultural workers from different countries come together, the almost immediate dialogue of cultures that ensues does not simply allow the individual participants to get to know one another. Cultural diplomacy also allows us to share and compare ideas; it is a proposition given to provocation, in a society focussed on entertainment, media and the commodification of spectacle. In this regard, I will reiterate the importance of visual and media artists, who are among our global ambassadors; they open a genuine dialogue that not only frees languages and ideas, but that also constitutes without a doubt the best foundation on which to initiate economic exchanges and forge political relationships in the noblest sense of the word. The Ancients knew what they were doing when they sent poets, musicians, dancers or painters to accompany emissaries charged with the most delicate of diplomatic negotiations.
Dear laureates of the 2009 awards, you remind us through your unique works of art that art is a meeting place that can be seductive, surprising, shocking or even provocative. I hope that today, all Canadians can appreciate the diversity and richness of your careers and that they come to realize that we are made stronger as a society through the plurality of your voices.