Mary lives in the small French village of Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa. When I visit there, my days have a double bonus. I ride the bus to and from work with her, a 40 minute ride. We chat away the miles and let the transit system do the driving.
When I get to work with her, I go to the National Museum, where I can spend hours, even days.
I have learned to take the gallery tours that highlight a different painting each day. I take my time in their special events exhibits, always studying the paintings as though I am going to be examined on them. This is the place where I have seen the largest collection of Inuit art some of which has been artfully integrated into the bigger colle
ction. There is an interesting collection of international art in the gallery as well. I have gazed at every item in the gift shop, and purchased many of them.
This is the art place where I feel most Canadian, although I wonder why I am saying that. Nothing beats the Royal Victoria Museum, nor in fact the pieces of Blackfoot art found in my own Calgary Glenbow museum.
Sometimes I think about the gift of being retired and able to to spend a delicious and leisurely day in a museum. In Ottawa I think of this mostly when I overhear conversations of other Canadians whose travel plans are only letting them stay one day in the galleries. “Quick, we must move on to the next gallery.”
I have stayed weeks in the National Gallery. I noticed this one day when I was sitting at a video of harpooning seals in the Arctic – filmed in about the 1940’s I think. Other patrons were having to rush by. I can tell from their conversations, … from the prairies, oh a Newfie accent, mmm, they have mentioned the name of their home town. Unlike them, I had 20 minutes where I could sit and watch the past travel in front of me in the video of the far North.
A gift.
Arta
When I get to work with her, I go to the National Museum, where I can spend hours, even days.
I have learned to take the gallery tours that highlight a different painting each day. I take my time in their special events exhibits, always studying the paintings as though I am going to be examined on them. This is the place where I have seen the largest collection of Inuit art some of which has been artfully integrated into the bigger colle
 |
| ... Xavier and Mary ... |
This is the art place where I feel most Canadian, although I wonder why I am saying that. Nothing beats the Royal Victoria Museum, nor in fact the pieces of Blackfoot art found in my own Calgary Glenbow museum.
Sometimes I think about the gift of being retired and able to to spend a delicious and leisurely day in a museum. In Ottawa I think of this mostly when I overhear conversations of other Canadians whose travel plans are only letting them stay one day in the galleries. “Quick, we must move on to the next gallery.”
I have stayed weeks in the National Gallery. I noticed this one day when I was sitting at a video of harpooning seals in the Arctic – filmed in about the 1940’s I think. Other patrons were having to rush by. I can tell from their conversations, … from the prairies, oh a Newfie accent, mmm, they have mentioned the name of their home town. Unlike them, I had 20 minutes where I could sit and watch the past travel in front of me in the video of the far North.
A gift.
Arta
Ah, sweet museums. A gift to be able to just sit in those galleries, and make relationships with the art that is there.
ReplyDeleteAnd a bonus to the National Gallery in Ottawa -- a lot of Canadiana!
ReplyDelete