Rideau Hall, Friday, May 2, 2008

Tonight, we are celebrating the performing arts, and to me, the stage is a meeting place.

A meeting place for people who communicate in a way that extends beyond that moment on stage.

Who among us, while watching a performance, a concert, a film, has not felt themselves transported by an artist’s world, imbued with a full range of emotions that lead us to look more closely at ourselves? At our own range of emotions?

The artist, then, often takes on the dreams, the desires and the fears of so many, giving them unique expression to challenge us and set us free.

There are some artists who are willing to move toward the Other through their own means of expression, to touch the very essence of who we are. 

And what happens next is something special that each of us perceives as essential, precious, magical.

A song alive with feeling, a few notes hung in the air, a line delivered, a body in motion—in an instant, we transcend our day-to-day lives to become part of something more universal, to connect with that part of humanity that lives inside each of us.

That, I think, is the power of art: to reveal, to broaden horizons.

To move beyond boundaries and differences.

To make the imagination a place of curiosity, dialogue and fellowship.

Art may be our best defence, the most effective way to open ourselves to the Other and find understanding.

In the act of creating, practised and learned over a lifetime, the artist puts the best of him or herself into the effort, offering it to us as a gift, a promise.

A gift of self and a promise of hope and renewal for all of humanity, even when the work reflects the fragility of this world.

It is a gift and a promise that accomplished and emerging artists can each in turn help to shape when a productive dialogue exists between them.

I believe that we need to encourage that dialogue so that existing works can thrive and new works be created.

If I may, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the efforts of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation to do just that with its newly created mentorship program.

So, to what extent is the role of the arts essential in our societies? Why this plea for creation?

Because every work, whatever its form, restores a little bit of beauty to the world and brings an extra measure of harmony to our everyday lives.

At the turn of the last century, Anatole France wrote that the artist must love life and show us that it is beautiful; otherwise, we may doubt that beauty.

What you, the artists, help us to hear and see, what you give to us, is a celebration of life at its rarest and most dazzling, but also at its most tragic and horrifying.

We could not live without your freedom and willingness to speak the unspeakable.

We could not live without you, Eric Charman, who believe so passionately in the luminous presence of the arts in our lives and our society.

Nor without you, Anton Kuerti, whose music fulfills us in unexpected ways and has made you one of the great pianists of our time.

Or you, Eugene Levy, who reveal things and people to us at their most eccentric, their most confused, at their craziest, whether on film, television or the stage.

Or you, Brian Macdonald, who have staged and choreographed our glory, our passions, our tragedies and our hopes for nearly half a century.

Or you, John Murrell, our prolific playwright, whose works have been brought to life in every corner of the world, making you a renowned ambassador for the arts and culture in Canada.

Or you, Alanis Obomsawin, who have opened our eyes to the indomitable strength of Aboriginal cultures, dispelling prejudices and preconceived ideas.

Or you, Michel Pagliaro, or simply “Pag” to your ardent fans, who are living proof that rock ‘n’ roll knows no linguistic bounds.

Or you, the members of The Tragically Hip, whose voice is unique and who put the essence of Canada to music. 

To each and every one of the 2008 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards laureates, I say thank you.

Thank you for the joy you bring to our lives. May this tribute to you this evening be a hymn to life itself.