It's Up!

The show of photographs of Vancouver during wartime is now up in the lobby of the Firehall. You can pop in and see the show during the day Wednesday through Saturday from 1-5 pm, or check it out when you come to see the play called Vimy by Vern Thiessen. Thanks so much to the folks who helped me hang the show. I ended up choosing to mount and frame photographs from World War II (as opposed to WWI). As I worked on creating the show I became intrigued with the idea that a few of the children in the photos might still be alive today and would be able to tell us their memories of the events portrayed in the show. Also, these people in the photos are the grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts of people who may have more photos and stories of Vancouver during wartime in their own collections. I urge you to talk to your family, ask them about the war and become your own family's archivist so that we don't lose these stories. This show is suitable for families to view together and would be a good place for younger people to learn about the city's history. The show fits into the grade 11 curriculum, but I would say that it is suitable for grade 5 and up.

Of course now that the show is up I will likely find other photos I would have loved to put in the show, so my wish is to keep researching and searching for photos of Vancouver during WWII to create a future project. I am particularly interested in furthering research into Canada's Victory Gardens. I would also be interested in working with schools to create art around the subjects covered in this exhibition.

On Monday night the Firehall organized a fabulous community dialogue around the role of art in war. I outlined the process of creating the exhibition and discussed the role of propaganda in wartime. Rob MacDonald, curator of the Seaforth Highlanders Museum in Vancouver talked about his passion for finding the stories attached to the photographs and objects in the museum. He is an eloquent storyteller and his extensive knowledge of history helps him to unearth the mysteries hidden in the collection. Right now MacDonald and his staff are in the process of digitizing the collection so that families from all over the world can trace photographs of their loved ones. He says he gets a couple of calls every week of people trying to track down photos or information about a family member who served in the Seaforth. You can visit the Seaforth Museum at 1650 Burrard Street on Wednesdays 7:30 to 9 pm, September through April.

We also heard from a painter named Christopher Baird Hennebery. Chris studied painting at Emily Carr and served in the Royal Westminster Regiment for over twenty years. He created his own project called Painting to Afghanistan and this year he traveled to Afghanistan to take photographs, sketch and draw. Unlike Canada's official war artists, Chris went outside the safe zone, put on his body armor and worked in incredibly dangerous conditions.

As a note to other artists: if you think your insurance bill is high, war artists have to be insured for $15,000.