Rideau Hall, Friday, April 4, 2008

It is with great joy that my husband Jean-Daniel Lafond and I welcome you to this residence, Rideau Hall, where the past and the present are interwoven in our memory.

And to that memory we can now add the memories of artists who turned their gaze to an island larger than life and to a majestic land: Newfoundland and Labrador.

These artists came from all across Canada to explore this magnificent corner of our country, giving its places, spaces, landscapes and people new meaning and new life.

We have been given a window onto a full spectrum of colour, a glimpse of their textures and variations, their rhythm, their fire, the life that runs through them.

And as this exhibit so rightly shows us, memory is made up of the signs that time has left behind to enrich our present. It is made up of traces, of vestiges, of overlaps, of impressions, of diverse experiences.

What is memory if not the sum of a multitude of memories that make up the most precious of treasures, the most beautiful part of ourselves?

I believe that this memory is far from frozen in the past; it is in perpetual motion, perpetual evolution.

Because our memories and perspectives are superimposed on those of our artists, layer upon layer, to create a collective memory that future generations will continue to enrich.

When I look around the room at these works of art, I see the immutable power of nature, desolate landscapes, scenes of daily life, intimate moments, and visions as unique as devil’s purses.

Thank you to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and to The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery for giving us this opportunity to see Newfoundland and Labrador in a new light and to enrich our memories through its storied past.

Thank you also to Megan Williams. Your love for this province and your passion for the artists who have found in it endless inspiration are unmistakeable in the selection of works in this exhibit.

And above all, thank you to the artists for sharing these moments of creation with us.

Bravo, one and all! May this latest exhibit here at Rideau Hall prove a great success!