magazine / jf05
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January/February 2005 issue |
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River art
One of the most difficult things about trying to produce artwork as part of an Arctic expedition
isn’t the cold and unruly weather. "The hardest thing was the bugs," laughs
artist Christine Persaud. "If you look closely at the finished piece, you can see
them painted over."
Persaud, who lives in Ottawa, was part of a fourwoman team sponsored by The Royal Canadian
Geographical Society that spent a month last summer canoeing Nunavut’s River art
Dubawnt River, and capturing the experience on video, film and a giant fiveby- seven-foot
canvas.
The expedition aimed to document the trip for both educational and artistic purposes.
Persaud’s photographs and film — shot with support from the National Film
Board — show the group meeting other travellers along the river and includes interviews
with them about their reasons for tackling such challenging northern excursions. "I
was trying to show what connects us to the land," she says.
Persaud, who has a background in fine arts and film studies, says the chance to paint
was a nice break from the documentary work of video and photography.
But travelling with such a large canvas wasn’t easy. She kept her artwork rolled
up in a plastic plumbing pipe that doubled as a structural support for some of the group’s
shelters.
Persaud says the purpose of carrying the large canvas during the entire expedition
was to paint on it continually so that the land’s textures and colours could permeate
the canvas.
And permeate it did. Since the tight schedule didn’t allow for her to stop regularly
to work on it during the day, Persaud painted on the uneven ground only when they were
pinned down by weather or when they completed their paddling a bit early.
"Painting distracted me from the logistical part of the trip and had me think
about the beauty and the landscape," she says. "It allowed me to create and
think in abstraction."
Jacques Krzepkowski
Leading into the future
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| Photo: David Barbour |
As The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS)
marks its 75th anniversary this year, it is also marking another important milestone by
appointing Gisèle Jacob as its first female president.
"My greatest challenge will be launching the Society into another 75 years," says
Jacob, a former public servant who has been a Society governor since 1994.
Now retired, Jacob held senior-management positions at the Canadian Human Rights Commission
and Environment Canada. She was also vicepresident of public affairs for The Mining Association
of Canada and was appointed chair of the Geographical Names Board of Canada in 1999. Her
work at the Society includes a six-year stint as vice-president, along with positions on
the awards, lectures and géographica committees, among others.
She says geography is of interest to Canadians who want to know what’s happening
both within and outside their borders, and she believes the work of the RCGS in explaining
the country to its population is important.
"The Society has a vital role to play in promoting geographic education," says
Jacob, "and in helping Canadians of all ages understand their place in the world."
J.K.
Pine Marten protector
Analyzing dead and dying trees in Newfoundland’s only remaining old-growth forest wouldn’t
be quite as engaging if it didn’t have the potential to save the pine marten.
Lanna Campbell, a geography and environmental studies student at New Brunswick’s
Mount Allison University, is one of this year’s recipients of The Royal Canadian
Geographical Society’s research
grants. She studied forests in the Main River watershed, at the southern part of the
northern peninsula, with the marten’s welfare in mind.
The Newfoundland pine marten (Martes americana atrata), a small weasel-like
mammal, is considered a threatened species on the island. Although some fall prey to trappers,
habitat loss from forestry is primarily to blame for its decline.
Last summer, Campbell analyzed cores from felled trees to determine their age and the
time since their death. Martens survive in the area, feeding mostly on voles and mice,
which tend to live in decaying trees.
"My research will tell us how long the structures on the forest floor have been
there," says Campbell, a component of the pine marten habitat that is often overlooked
but critical to their survival.
Although she collected core samples and wood slices, Campbell hopes her data will help
the province develop a method of visual analysis for estimating the age of a forest just
by looking at its deadwood. This kind of system, used in the Pacific Northwest of the United
States, would be a first for Newfoundland — and potentially help save the Newfoundland
pine marten.
J.K.
Celebrating 75
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| Photos: David Barbour |
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS)
and Canadian Geographic threw a 75th birthday party in Ottawa in November to honour
some of the country’s top researchers, with the help of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson,
who is patron of the Society.
"Mackenzie King once stated that while ‘some countries have too much history,
we have too much geography,’" said Clarkson. "Do you suppose this had anything
to do with Charles Camsell and his associates having just published the
first Canadian Geographical Journal?"
Clarkson awarded the Massey
Medal to urban geographer Larry Bourne and Gold
Medals to biologist and documentary filmmaker Jean Lemire and remote-sensing pioneer
Edryd Shaw (right). At a luncheon the following day, former RCGS president Alex. T. Davidson
and former RCGS governor Samuel Arseneault were also recognized with Camsell
Awards for their outstanding contributions as volunteers with the Society.
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