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Home   Culture in Canada
Canada has two official languages—English and French—and a highly diverse culture, thanks to the contribution of Canadians of all origins. Because of its short history, Canadian culture is above all contemporary. This is particularly evident in its authors, almost all of whom are still alive: Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Yann Martel (three recent Booker Prize winners), Marie-Claire Blais and Antonine Maillet are already well-known in the United States. In recent decades, Canada has gained international recognition in the visual arts thanks to cutting-edge artists. Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Edward Burtynsky, Ken Lum, Ian Wallace and Geneviève Cadieux introduced new uses for photography techniques, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller used new technologies in artistic creation. Cinéma d'auteur is becoming increasingly common, thanks to veteran filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, and Léa Pool, but also because of young directors such as Jean-François Pouliot, Denis Villeneuve, Thom Fitzgerald, Don McKellar, Keith Behrman, Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) and Guy Maddin. Canada is also recognized for its documentary and animation films and has received several awards throughout the years: Alanis Obomsawin (Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance), Peter Raymont (Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire), multi-award- winning animation short directed and written by Chris Landreth. Flowing from a very strong oral tradition, Canadian theatre has not only world-renowned stage directors such as Robert Lepage and Denis Marleau, but also a large number of authors who have been played in the Washington, DC area. In this vein, Washington, DC area companies recently staged works by Michel Tremblay, George F. Walker, Daniel MacIvor, Stephen Massicotte, Sean Raycraft, Michael Healey, Jason Sherman. Finally, Canadian dance is represented by several companies ranging from classical ballet to contemporary dance: National Ballet of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Lalala Human Steps, Marie Chouinard, O'Vertigo, and Holy Body Tattoo. Music plays a historic role in Canada, one of the co-founders of the Jeunesses musicales mondiales. Its national icon, pianist Glenn Gould, is known throughout the world. The Montreal and Toronto symphony orchestras have a number of records to their credit and toured internationally. Chamber music also occupies a special place—Tafelmusik or the St. Lawrence Quartet have won several prizes. Singers such as Russel Braun and Michael Schade, flutist Robert Aitken and pianist Marc-André Hamelin are oft-invited performers, and composers Murray Schafer and Claude Vivier are also played regularly in the United States. Canadian Pop musicians continue to earn major awards and nominations and are recognized for their groundbreaking styles. Canadian Indie musicians have reached international critical acclaim with their outstanding talent and original sound and for breaking markets without the assistance of the big record labels. To learn more about arts and culture in Canada, please click on the any of the following links:
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Canadian Festivals
Arts News Canada | 
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