Culture in Canada
Fact Sheets on Canadian Culture
On Canadian Culture
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),
Gaétan Soucy, Marie-Claire Blais and Antonine Maillet are already well-known
in Germany. Over 1,000 Canadian literary titles have been translated and published
in German.
In recent decades, Canada has gained recognition in Europe in the visual arts
thanks to cutting-edge artists. Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Ken Lum, Ian Wallace
and Geneviève Cadieux introduced new uses for photography techniques,
Janet Cardiff and Louis-Philippe Demers used new technologies in artistic creation,
and Jana Sterback invented never-before-seen conceptual environments. Each year,
Canada receives awards for its new media creators at Berlin's Transmediale or
the European Art Festival in Osnabruck.
Cinéma d'auteur is becoming increasingly common, thanks to veteran filmmakers
such as Atom Egoyan—who was jury president of the 2002 Berlinale—David
Cronenberg, Denys Arcand and Léa Pool, but also because of young directors
such as Jean-François Pouliot, Denis Villeneuve, Don McKellar, Keith
Behrman and Guy Maddin.
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 translated into many languages, including German. In
this vein, German companies recently staged works by Michel-Marc Bouchard, Daniel
Danis, Michel Tremblay, George Walker, David Young and Colleen Wagner.
Finally, Canadian modern dance has made noticeable inroads in German festivals
in recent years. In 2002, 16 companies were invited, the most famous of which
were 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 Germany in 1999 and 2000. Chamber music also occupies
a special place—Tafelmusik or the St. Lawrence Quartet have won several
prizes in Germany. 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
Germany.
>> About Canadian Culture in Germany
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