Canadian War Museum displays new war art

Photo © Canadian War Museum, Corporate Photo Collection, photo F. Wimart.    

The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa has just unveiled 10 large-scale paintings from its Beaverbrook Collection in a new exhibition called Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times.
These paintings – some of which have not been shown before – are outside the Barney Danson Theatre in a new hanging system paid for by the Friends of the Canadian War Museum.
The 10 portraits by war artists depict a wide variety of wartime scenes, both in the battlefield and at home.
“Canadian military history is more than just about soldiers; it’s also about ordinary people who must face difficult challenges and adapt to change when their lives are upended by conflict,” said James Whitham, of the Canadian War Museum, in a press release. “The works in Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times are direct, dramatic and speak broadly to the personal experience of war.”
The paintings show a wide variety of activities, including, Canadian women sorting apples during the First World War, a portrait of a woman in uniform that would become a recruiting poster for the Canadian Women's Army Corps, to Canadian seaman rescuing German sailors who survived a naval battle off the coast of France in the Second World War and much more. Conflicts in Rwanda and Afghanistan are also depicted.
The museum's Beaverbrook collection contains more than 13,000 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures.
The museum intends to showcase more of the collection in the future in this space.
It is free to view this exhibition.

International Day of Mine Awareness

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shows his support for the Lend Your Leg campaign. Photo courtesy UNMAS.

Today is International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action and civil society groups around the world are calling on people to join the Lend Your Leg campaign to eliminate landmines and support landmine survivors. 

“With this simple action of rolling-up our pant leg we want to remind the world that landmines are still present and devastating lives," said Kasia Derlicka, director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. "We want global decision makers to take real actions to ban the weapon, to clear all land and to assist all victims. We want a world free of mines and we know this can be achieved within years and not decades.”

Despite the success of the Mine Ban Treaty (159 countries have ratified it, 37 have not), landmines continue to kill and maim people in 72 countries around the world. In 2010, 4,191 casualties were reported – nearly 12 people per day.

To learn more about the Lend Your Leg campaign, click here.