Artist in Residence Carolyn Meili’s static parade
“I love these cultural activities, it gives me a chance to appreciate our arts and culture,” said a local resident in front of City Hall. Guelph celebrated Culture Days from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.
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But, what does culture mean?
Why do we emphasize the importance of culture?
How do we display culture to the public today?
Coming from a country that is proud of its 5000-year history, I considered these questions again after visiting “The Parade” exhibition by Guelph’s artist in residence, Carolyn Meili.
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It’s hard to express my feelings about this exhibition, because I had no ideas about Canadian culture before coming to Canada.
To me, the exhibition itself was a surprise; it was more like a history and cultural lesson than an exhibition.
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The piece Lest We Forget visualized John McCrae’s famous poem “In Flanders Fields” through a pile of fabric poppy flowers. The Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate sat on the top of the pile, I think to connect Guelph’s people to Remembrance Day.
Another interesting sculpture, to me, is Animal Stack. The story behind it is that U of G has a live cow on display with a hole in its side for educational purposes.Exceeding my expectations, this exhibition enlightens me.Meili is so clever that she gathers a visual language of symbols that represent Guelph daily life and presents them through wearable sculptures.
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Life is art and art is life.Ancient Chinese pottery pieces, which are now exhibited in museums, were ordinary necessities for cooking, drinking, or other daily purposes.
Personally speaking, we appreciate the gorgeous patterns on pottery because we are absorbed by the history and stories behind them. That means, the items can only tell us the life. The patterns, on the other hand, can let us imagine their stories.
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People love stories, culture tells us stories, and crafts display stories. That may be the same point in cultures all over the world. That is what I concluded about culture.
There was also a crafts market outside City Hall, my friends and I were fond of those handmade pottery pieces. They were just products currently, but they would be culture in the future, we believed.
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Photo by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion