Sixth Company

 This unusual but creative work looks at history that never was. Sixth Company Battalion is a 2016 work by Anique Jordan, depicting her mother and aunts in Loyalist uniforms of the era of the War of 1812. Women at the time could not serve in battle.

This extraordinary portrait is one I've shown you before. Normandy Warrior is a 2020 painting by Elaine Goble, depicting Philip Favel, an indigenous veteran of the landings in Normandy during the Second World War.

I found this very creative. Barb Hunt created antipersonnel between 1998-2003. These are knitted versions of landmines, a commentary on the contrast between the weapons, which kill decades after a conflict has ended, and the healing that is inherent in the act of knitting.

This one, particularly, caught my eye. The real version is a claymore mine.

Injured: PTSD is a poignant 2002 painting by Gertrude Kearns.

This powerful portrait is Major-General Jennie Carignan, also by Kearns, done in 2020. A fitting way to close out this exhibit.

Out I went to the permanent galleries. Large photographs line the path on one side.

In a central hub that leads into the galleries is a temporary exhibit. This year marks the 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping in Cyprus. Canadian soldiers joined up from the start. While the bulk of Canadian participation ended in 1993, there remains a Canadian presence to the operation to this day. This exhibit looks at the history of that operation.

It was a mission that would have casualties for the Canadians.