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Canada calling Inspiring art activities, where mixed media work is encouraged, reflect the cultural blend of communities in Canada. Niilofur Farrukh reviews two recent exhibits Culture agenda Today, the cultural land - [[cutout]] employment. All economic and educational policies should, therefore, be job-oriented. Government is the biggest employer in a country. There is no denying that government offices are over-staffed not only in Pakistan but elsewhere too. However, things in our country are right now more disconcerting. In a spate of economizing the expenditure, a process of 'rightsizing' of government establishment has started the end-result of which is unemployment. The government has its own (valid) reasons for getting rid of corrupt, inefficient and indolent [[/cutout]] [[image]][[/image]] -ing tradition of adopting British and French cultural conventions as its own, it was in the last century that celebrated thinker Northrop Fry, through his writings and talks, helped the imagination of his countrymen to make the leap from colonial to national and find an independent identity in the creative arts. In the visual arts the oeuvre of 'The Group of Seven' forms the genesis of the painting tradition of white Canada. Their pioneering effort captures what Fry describes as 'That terror of the hostility of nature' both with a sense of awe and discovery. The landscape painting continues to be a popular genre as is chronicles now the intrusion of a nature still leaves the e living in its hinter- feeling helpless and at the same time challenged In the early works of the landscapists, colour seems symbolize the relation- of violence between settler and the elements. As season after season, the settler found his efforts to carve out a space threatened by nature. With many painters, autumn is a favourite season, which is often painted in a blaze of colours. The white winter landscape of Lawren Harris has a foreboding air, as if a blizzard, with disaster in its wake is about to rise from the unknown to disturb the serenity of the scene. Also inspired by the natural environment is the art of the First Nation —— the Cree and Innuit (Eskimo) people. This art emerges from within, rather than from the outside. In it natural material-like bones, leather, whale teeth, rock, wood, feathers become an extension of what has been shaped by nature. Contextualized in the myths of these people, their art echoes their coexistence with the natural resources for centuries. Absent is a will to reinvent or domesticate it. In Ontario, the legacy of The Group of Seven and some of the art of the First Nation has been collectively housed in an extended log cabin of a wooded estate that once belonged to the McMichael family. As the catalogue of this galley [[gallery]] states it's bringing together '...that special combination of Canadian architecture, Canadian landscape and Canadian art that makes it a unique national treasure.' Recently held at this museum was an an exhibition of a Chinese Canadian artist whose ancestors had been very much involved in the country's progress, as part of the labour gangs that laid the railway tracks that opened the land to development. But unfortunately, this may be the last show that puts together the 'complete' hostory, as the conservative Board of Trustees has just won a court case that in future will allow the McMichael Gallery to hold shows that project only their myopic version of Canadian history. Toronto, the fast-growing commercial capital of the country is home to a growing number of museums. It is in the larger cities that one can see the arts of Canada reflect the dynamic cultural evolution of its people. Here, the past, dominated by a European legacy weaves into the present, which is a multi-racial, multi-dimensional art mosaic shaped in response to the changing demographic reality. The Ontario Arts Council is sensitive to these developments and has generated interactive programmes to narrow the gap between art and community. Creative activity is fast acquiring a new definition as the common ground for all 'new' Canadians. The Artists in School grant is a programme that gives young children access to practicing potters, writers, painters, puppeteers, performers and others from all ethnic backgrounds to inculcate an early respect for cultural diversity. These projects also give young people a chance to enter the world of art with the discovery of their potential talent. 18 The Review, DAWN, August 31 — September 6, 2000
