Presentation of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts

Rideau Hall, Wednesday, March 31, 2010

We sometimes have a tendency to look at the world without really seeing it, so oversaturated are we by images in our market-driven society.

But we sense that there is more than this. More than this continuous influx of points of view—usually the same ones repeated ad museum—more than the immediate horizon, more than the foreseeable.

It is through art that we access this other, this invisible, intangible, essential quality hiding behind appearances.

The works of art you create pierce through reality to let imagination shine through and open a world of ideas and possibilities.

We suddenly see the world through your eyes and our entire being is gripped by a tidal wave of senses and sensations that flood our spirit, heart and body.

Faced with the emotions your works evoke, the questions they raise, the certainties they question, the reflection they invite, we feel more alive, more human and more liberated.

I often say that one of the joys of living and working at Rideau Hall is being surrounded on a daily basis by exceptional works of art, thanks to the imaginations of our artists and the generosity of various galleries and museums.

Riopelle said that his paintings were a witness to what was happening within him.

Every time I walk down the long corridor from my office to the Reception Room, the haunting proportions of Riopelle’s Composition created in the 1950s stops me short.

It is as though the piece is a mirror turned inward, and its reflection is a revelation to the person looking at it.

That is why I believe it is so important that the thousands of visitors who come here every year also have the opportunity to allow their hearts and spirits to communicate with these works.

And why it is so important to honour you, dear artists, you who fill our sights with your visions and broaden our perspective of the world and of ourselves.

Without you, we would remain isolated by one single way of seeing and the world would be the poorer for it.

Thanks to you, we have access to a wealth of world views, views to which you attribute forms that speak to us and begin a dialogue of endless possibilities. A dialogue that continually reinvents itself, depending on the light and time.

For that—and for that alone—you deserve all our recognition.

To Robert Davidson, whose work revives the culture of his Haida ancestors, just as sap nourishes the tree from its deepest roots to its highest leaves, thank you.

To André Forcier who, since the 1970s, has written films without compromise with poetry that frees reality from its constraints, thank you.

To Rita Letendre, whose enormous frescos are fuelled by the world’s energy, thank you.

To Tom Sherman, for whom nature is an invincible force that must be questioned continually and by any means, thank you.

To Gabor Szilasi, who captures the spirit of places, eras and people on film with respect, dignity and sensitivity, thank you.

To Claude Tousignant, who takes great pleasure in exploring forms and colours, and in freeing their evocative power, thank you.

To Terrence Ryan, the artist responsible for the emergence and international recognition of Cape Dorset artists, thank you.

Since 2007, the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts have given the fine crafts the recognition they deserve through the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in the fine crafts.

To Ione Thorkelsson, the artist receiving the award this year, who blows, shapes and sculpts glass to create bones as a way of restoring part of our memory of the ages, thank you.

In conclusion, dear laureates, a single wish: that our sights, guided by your own, be set on senses, beauty, light and mystery not only where they can be seen, but especially where they are hidden.

Thank you very much.