• The Northwest Passage – an Arctic Obsession
• The Accessible Arctic
– eighty years of Arctic photography
• Arctic film season
• Cultural Olympiad 2010 announces first events
• Alice Munro wins international literary prize
• Anne Michaels publishes second novel
• All the Queen’s horses
• Nobel laureate Derek Walcott
takes up Canadian university post
The Northwest Passage
– an Arctic Obsession
For centuries, explorers sought the fabled North West Passage, the sea route linking the North Atlantic with the North Pacific Ocean, which would provide a lucrative short cut for trade between Europe and the East.
A new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, in partnership with the Canadian High Commission, draws on some of the extraordinary stories, feats of endurance and tragedies that have surrounded British Arctic expeditions over the last three hundred years.
Claire Warrior, senior curator of exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum says, “There was huge public interest in the race to find the North West Passage, particularly during the nineteenth century, and that mirrors increasing interest in the Arctic today as the region is once again becoming a focus for world attention.”
Countless men lost their lives searching for a trade route through this hostile terrain, enduring arctic blizzards and starvation. Among them was Sir John Franklin who in 1845 led a high profile, scientific expedition in search of the passage. Both ships under his command disappeared. For more than ten years, 40 expeditions, official and private, British and international, searched for Franklin and his crew and it wasn’t until 1859 that their fate was discovered – all 129 men died of exposure, starvation and sickness.
Jigsaw puzzle depicting two sailing vessels. In the foreground is a vessel prepared for wintering in the Arctic, a whale and an explorer being chased by a polar bear. The title: 'The Sorcerer of the North Pole or Captain Ross’s Vision' is printed in the lower right. The jigsaw is made up of 70 pieces with one missing.
The National Maritime Museum has an extensive collection of artefacts from Franklin’s expedition and from the others that searched for him. The exhibition also includes paintings, drawings, letters, maps and ethnographic items which highlight British attempts to explore and map the Arctic.
Among Warrior’s favourite pieces is a vocabulary book in English and the Inuit language Inuktitut which was used by George Back who in 1833, sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society and the Hudson’s Bay Company, went in search of a missing explorer called John Ross. “The book contains lots of words that refer to searching, a European man and distances. It demonstrates how difficult it must have been for the Inuit and British explorers to communicate,” she says.
The exhibition also includes samples of “fools gold” worthless black ore which was brought back by Sir Martin Frobisher’s Arctic voyages in the 1570s. It was believed to be so valuable that Queen Elizabeth I ordered quadruple locks for the worthless haul, at the Tower of London.
“It demonstrates that then as now, the Arctic was seen as source of potential wealth and richness that could be exploited,” says Warrior.
This engraving shows the Royal Navy’s first encounter with Inuit in the Arctic. John Ross explored Prince Regent’s Bay in north-west Greenland during his 1818 expedition. Here, Ross and William Parry can be seen exchanging knives and mirrors with their new acquaintances.
The exhibition also explores the lives and vibrant culture of the Inuit who have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. “We have to remember that the Arctic was and is a peopled space,” says Warrior. “Although the British were not always terribly successful and there were some disastrous Arctic expeditions, to the Inuit the Arctic is home.”
The exhibition runs from
23 May 2009 to 3 January 2010.
Cultural Olympiad 2010
announces first events
An explosive love story on a stage made of ice and snow, a massive mural on a Vancouver landmark and a cutting edge theatrical production by the internationally celebrated writer and director Robert Lepage, are just some of the events that will take place during the Cultural Olympiad 2010, which begins next January.
The Cultural Olympiad, which is the second pillar of the Olympic movement, is a celebration of music, dance, theatre, film, literature and spectacular outdoor events featuring artists from around the world. The first 20 projects have recently been announced and more will follow.
“The Cultural Olympiad 2010 is the culmination of a three year programme developing new work, building partnerships with the national and international arts community and delivering outstanding festivals of arts and popular culture,” says Burke Taylor, Vice President of culture and celebrations at the Vancouver Organising Committee (VANOC). And he adds, “We have helped create a lasting artistic legacy that will live beyond 2010 by commissioning major projects such as Robert Lepage’s ‘The Blue Dragon’ and Joni Mitchell’s ballet, ‘The Fiddle and the Drum.’
[From Left to Right] Canada’s Public Safety Minister, Peter Van Loan; RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bernie Corrigan (riding ‘Saint James’); RCMP Commissioner William Elliott; Her Majesty The Queen; RCMP Riding Master Sgt Major Bill Stewart (riding ‘George’); and Canadian High Commissioner James R. Wright.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have presented a Police Service Horse (PSH) to Her Majesty the Queen.
The nine year old gelding, ‘George’, was officially presented at the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo, which celebrates the endeavours of service men and women, past and present. George is an iconic black horse, used by Canada’s national police force.
It is forty years since the RCMP first presented a PSH to the Queen. PSH ‘Burmese’ soon became a firm favourite with Her Majesty and featured in the Trooping of the Colour for 18 consecutive years.
In all the RCMP have presented Her Majesty with four horses. RCMP Commissioner William Elliott says, “We value our relationship with The Queen and the Royal family which is reflected in The Queen’s role as Honorary Commissioner of the RCMP and His Royal Highness, the Earl of Wessex’s role as Honorary Deputy Commissioner. Our relationship has been strengthened over the years through a mutual appreciation for equitation.”
Don’t miss a new exhibition at Canada House
The Accessible Arctic
– eighty years of Arctic photography
Across the Ice, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut
A new photography exhibition at Canada House in London explores the landscape, wildlife and the lives of the people of the Canadian Arctic.
Curated by the Canadian Museum of Nature, these images are taken from the pages of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society’s magazine, Canadian Geographic, which, for 80 years, has brought readers fascinating stories of a region that remains, for most, distant and remote. They are a clear reflection that the North has always been at the heart of the Canadian identity.
Something Like a Man - Navigational markers, food caches and cultural symbols, stone markers have long been in use in the Arctic, where natural landmarks are scarce.
Canadian Geographic has drawn on 129 volumes of the magazine for this exhibition and showcases the work of some of Canada’s best known and accomplished photographers.
The exhibition is complemented by a collection of photographs from the British Council’s recent Cape Farewell project – which charts the voyage of a group of young people from Canada, Britain and around the world, as they examine the impact of climate change in the far North.
As part of the Canadian High Commission’s focus on the Arctic, Canada House will be hosting a series of weekly film screenings followed by a discussion in collaboration with the National Maritime Museum. Tickets are available from August 24 only by pre booking through the National Maritime Museum on 020 8312 8560. Doors open at 18.30 and the films start at 19.00.
September 22 (double bill)
Henry Larsen’s Northwest Passages
Norwegian-born Superintendent Henry Larsen of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was the first man to navigate the Northwest Passage in both directions. In this film he relates anecdotes of his voyages in the tiny schooner, the St. Roch.
Northwest Passage
It took a supertanker like the U.S.S. Manhattan, assisted by a nimble icebreaker, the Canadian John A. Macdonald, to realize the dream of centuries: the navigation of a commercial sea lane through the Arctic channels. This is a record of that historic expedition, filmed in colour from both ships and from a reconnaissance helicopter.
September 29
The Necessities of Life
This film from 2008 asks what does a human being need to live? Set during the 1950s tuberculosis epidemic, Tivil is taken from the far north to a sanatorium in Quebec. Uprooted from his family and in an alien culture, he finds himself unable to communicate with anyone.
October 6
Atanajurat: The Fast Runner
An exciting action thriller set in ancient Igloolik, the film unfolds as a life threatening struggle between powerful natural and supernatural characters.
October 13
Before Tomorrow
The story of a woman who demonstrates that human dignity is at the core of life from beginning to end, as she faces the ultimate challenge of survival.
October 20
Passage
A documentary charting the true story of John Rae who solved two great mysteries – the fate of the Sir John Franklin expedition and the location of the North West passage.
Alice Munro wins
international literary prize
Canadian author, Alice Munro, has been awarded the prestigious Man Booker International Prize, which recognises one writer for outstanding achievements in fiction.
Ms. Munro was chosen from a shortlist of some of the biggest names in world fiction including the Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul, the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and the Australian novelist Peter Carey.
One of the judging panel, the Pulitzer prize-winning American novelist Jane Smiley says, “Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels. To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before.”
Ms Munro has written about the quietly unsettled internal lives of small-town Ontarians for more than 40 years and says, “I am very pleased. To be among such candidates for the prize was a great honour in itself. It’s especially great at my time of life to have this recognition of a lifetime’s work.”
Her latest collection of short stories, ‘Too Much Happiness,’ will be published in October. Alice Munro received the prize of £60,000 and a trophy at the Award Ceremony on 25 June at Trinity College, Dublin.
The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every two years to a living author. The inaugural prize was awarded in 2005 to Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare who went on to gain worldwide recognition for his work.
Anne Michaels publishes
long-awaited second novel
Canadian writer Anne Michaels, whose first novel ‘Fugitive Pieces,’ was published in 1997 to worldwide acclaim has, after a dozen years, published her long-awaited second novel, ‘The Winter Vault.’
It tells the story of Avery, a young engineer who is responsible for rescuing the great temple of Abu Simbel from the waters of the Aswan Dam. But as the temple is taken apart and rebuilt, Avery and his wife suffer a terrible loss.
Weaving historical moments with the quiet intimacy of human lives, ‘The Winter Vault’ is an epic tale that takes in Egypt, Canada and Poland.
Michaels, described by ‘The Times’ as “a novelist of unusual and compelling power,” was awarded the Orange Prize and the Guardian First Book Award, amongst others, for ‘Fugitive Pieces.’ The novel was recently made into a film starring British actors Stephen Dillane and Rosamund Pike.
Michaels has also won the Commonwealth Prize for the Americas for her collection of poetry, ‘The Weight of Oranges’, and the Canadian Author’s Association Award for ‘Miner’s Pond.’
She recently visited the UK and discussed her work at a number of events including an evening at the South Bank, the Hay Festival and the Universities of Warwick and East Anglia. She also spoke at a lunch for writers and critics hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner to London, James Wright.
Nobel laureate Derek Walcott takes up Canadian university post
Caribbean poet, Derek Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and who recently withdrew from the race to become Oxford Professor of Poetry following a controversial campaign, is to take up a teaching role at the University of Alberta.
Professor Walcott will spend six weeks a year teaching intensive poetry and playwriting courses and mentoring students and academics at the University as its inaugural ‘Distinguished Scholar in Residence.’
