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Short Title: AQ-NWP100 Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=338 The objective of the Arctic Quest project is to promote an increased interest and understanding of the arctic polar region internationally through the sharing of art of the 25 artists involved in the project between the North and South, from East to West in Canada and beyond. The goals of the Arctic Quest project are to form new connections with international artists and to cultivate vital cultural links between southern Canada's artistic community and Inuit artists at both professional and student levels, and to expose the resulting body of art to the Polar region communities and the international public to increase appreciation and awareness and stimulate interest in the fragile Polar region. For the first phase of the project 25 artists from Canada and the United will begin in 2006 with an Arctic voyage celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the first successful navigation of the Northwest Passage by Roald Amundsen. They will follow in the footsteps of famous explorers and great artists that have inspired them. They will paint the landscape, people, flora and fauna and weather as they interpret it. This voyage in Canadian, Greenland (Danish) and International waters, will retrace some of the early explorers and artists original routes, stopping periodically to sketch, paint and photograph what they see. After 12 days at sea, the group will return to their studios and record and develop their experiences in paint. During the second phase of the project the artists will share their artistic interpretations in an extensive series of exhibitions throughout 2007 and 2008, planned to coincide with International Circumpolar Year. The Arctic Quest Exhibition is planned to contain artwork of early explorers, representatives of the Group of Seven (Harris, Varley, and A.Y. Jackson), Doris McCarthy and Maurice Haycock (two artists inspired by the Group of Seven) as well as the works of the 25 contemporary artists, who have been in turn inspired by those who went before. Works of Inuit artists will also be included. Both elements of the project are supported by a variety of educational, outreach and legacy initiatives. For example, the Arctic Quest voyage will include art shows of local Inuit talents, invitations of local Inuit artists aboard the vessel, painting workshops with children to develop artistic skills and donations of artist materials to communities visited during the expedition. In addition the project will restore and dedicate the yellow cabin in Pangnirtung built by artist Maurice Haycock in 1926 during a year's surveying assignment with the Geological Survey of Canada. A restoration plan would be developed with the community: some thoughts at this time include a historic site, art library, art store, artist studio, or all of the above. As well, a cairn commemorating the work of Maurice Haycock will be built by a small group of the artists at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island in close proximity to one built by Dr. Haycock in 1969 in recognition of his friend and painting companion A.Y. Jackson's most northerly painting location in 1927, the year they met. And finally, a documentary film by Janet and John Foster, Gemini Award Winning Film makers, will highlight the artists entire journey with a focus on the historic roots of the expedition, including Amundsen's successful navigation through the Northwest Passage. This documentary will draw attention to the area, the issues related to the arctic such as global warming, sovereignty issues and its sensitive and fragile environment. The Arctic Quest Exhibition will travel to communities in Canada, the United States and Norway. Concurrent with the art exhibition, there will be outreach programs, screening of the documentary, art workshops for children, demonstrations of Inuit artistic skills and cultural crafts, and lectures. Inuit painting workshops will be given as part of the Ontario Lieutenant Governor's Twinning Initiative between the North and South. Two book launches will also bring attention to the historic work of the Geological Survey of Canada, plus early settlement by Inuit and exploration by Europeans in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Maurice Haycock's Diary of a year in the arctic in 1927, and Historic Sites in the Canadian Arctic.
AQ-NWP100