INVESTORS GROUP PROVIDES MAJOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO CROSS-CANADA TOUR OF OUTDOOR FOLK ART FROM CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION'S VAST COLLECTION
Hull, Quebec, November 19, 1998 — The Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) is proud to announce that Investors Group has provided major financial support for the presentation of This Other Eden: Canadian Folk Art Outdoors, the first major cross-Canada tour in 15 years of works from the Museum's extraordinary folk-art collection. Investors Group's $500,000 sponsorship is the most ever received by the CMC for a national touring exhibition which showcases the Museum's vast Canadian folk-art collection — the richest in the country.
"This unique exhibition is a celebration of how Canadians express their everyday ways-of-life through traditional folk art," said H. Sanford Riley, President and CEO of Investors Group. "Investors Group is proud to support the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the tour's presenting institutions in sharing this part of our heritage with people across Canada." It also represents the largest cultural sponsorship in the history of Investors Group, reflecting the company's commitment to sharing culture with Canadians.
Developed by the CMC, This Other Eden is a lighthearted, whimsical exhibition of 150 outdoor folk-art pieces including whirligigs, weathervanes, scarecrows, birdhouses, birds, and animals, which will be showcased in a "fantasy" garden. The exhibition opens at the Museum on May 21, 1999 and embarks on a two-year tour following its stay at the CMC.
The exhibition is designed to show outdoor folk art at its best — in its natural habitat: the backyard garden. The Gallery in the CMC will be transformed into a ravishing sculpture garden, complete with babbling brook, birdsong, wood-chip garden paths and, of course, ornaments. Approximately 150 folk-art pieces — from the beautiful and soaring to the hilarious, cranky, delightful and downright funky — will decorate the fantasy garden. Rustic benches, a gazebo and a pond will complete the pastoral setting.
"We are very excited by this opportunity to partner with Investors Group, one of this country's most active sponsors of arts and culture," commented Dr. George F. MacDonald, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. "We are deeply appreciative of their generosity, which is allowing the Museum to develop what I am certain will be a very popular and unique exhibition."
As Guest Curator of the exhibition Phil Tilney has observed, "Outdoor folk art was largely created for the backyard, the garden, the stretches between house and road — in short, to adorn the creator's own personal Eden. The pieces reflect the blending of cultural traditions and regional characteristics, as much as they represent the whims, fantasies and humour of their creators. Always eccentric and very much part of the Canadian consciousness, they are nostalgic reminders of the symbols and passions that have influenced people's lives. They are a `people's art'; they are memorable because they come from and belong to all of us."
This Other Eden: Canadian Folk Art Outdoors will be presented by Investors Group at the Canadian Museum of Civilization from May 21, 1999 to January 2, 2000. Following its showing at the CMC, the exhibition will embark on a cross-Canada tour to Halifax (Art Gallery of Nova Scotia), Montreal (McCord Museum) and Calgary (Glenbow Museum), with other venues under negotiation in London, Toronto, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Vancouver. A fully-illustrated publication in French and English, based on This Other Eden, will be produced to coincide with the exhibition's opening.
Information (media):
Media Relations Officer: (819) 776-7169
Senior Media Relations Officer: (819) 776-7167
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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