A Patriotic Celebration

I am picking up where I left off yesterday in the National Arts Centre, with the art installation Cloud, which was ideal for photo ops on Canada Day. Music was being played in the lobby while people were waiting for the evening concert- in this case a jazz band.

Turning around close to where I was for the above shots is a doorway leading into what I'd describe as a prep room. I've always liked the look of it. It's rather sci-fi and ominous, like architecture out of Blade Runner. From time to time, I've given blood at clinics inside, so I know what's behind it, but otherwise it would be easy to mistake this for a wall. The door can be seen in the following shot, behind the jazz band and the ascending staircase.

I headed into Southam Hall and found a seat as the orchestra and choir started coming in, listening to the musicians and that swirling sound of readying their instruments.

The concert was quite a mix of influences, opening and closing with a small group of First Nations men, the Eagle River Singers. Sitting in a circle around a large drum, they beat the drum and sang a traditional song, a sound that was mesmerizing to hear. Music Director Alexander Shelley led the orchestra with the national anthem, moving into classical selections mixed with choral songs- Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paginini, The Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss, Mozart's Piano Concerto #21, Mussorgsky's Night On Bald Mountain, and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.

The Unisong choir, made up of seventeen choirs from around the country, sang under the direction of Lydia Adams- with music of English, French, and First Nations influences. And there were soloists- a blues singer, Dione Taylor, sang Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Oscar Peterson's Hymn To Freedom in collaboration with the choir and the orchestra. Three solo musicians performed as featured soloists as part of the classical selections- violinist James Ehnes and young piano prodigies Jan Lisiecki and Daniel Clarke Bouchard. The evening was hosted by Chantal Petitclerc, a Canadian Paralympian who has since been named to the Senate.

Coming out, I took a shot of the Chateau Laurier in evening light. From here, I was bound for Major's Hill Park and the fireworks.

National Arts Centre

On Canada Day, I came back from being across the river at the Museum of History to take in an evening concert at the National Arts Centre, which had just opened its new spaces earlier in the day. These two views are out front, looking out at the crowd around the National War Memorial, which stands across the street.

The place was busy inside. Where I was walking didn't exist a year ago- there was a sloping driveway going down where the glass enclosure now stands. It's certainly transformed the building's sense of itself, and the new space left me impressed.

This art installation is hanging inside at the moment. It is a 2010 sculpture by Canadian artist Kim Morgan, titled Range Light, Borden, PEI, sculpted of latex and mosquito netting, depicting the neglect and decline of a lighthouse.

This view out from the enclosure looks to the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa Convention Centre beyond it.

Up on the top level of the building, I came into the balcony levels for Southam Hall, the largest performance space in the building. The stage was being readied for the evening concert, which featured a mix of classical and vocal music. I paused to take a shot of the steps that descend down to the lower boxes of the upper balcony.

This is another performance space in the NAC, the Theatre. The people gathered in here were members of Unisong, a collection of choirs from around the country who were involved in the Canada Day concert.

I have more from here tomorrow, but I leave off today with this glimpse of Cloud, a 2012 work by Caitlind Brown and Wayne Garrett, consisting of 6000 light bulbs in the shape of a cloud, presently hanging in a lobby here. It was a popular spot on Canada Day.

Rockhound

I have some more from the Museum of Nature's Earth Gallery today, taken during my Canada Day visit.

Another area deal with the metamorphosis of rock, and an interactive activity lets you fiddle around with a video projection of your own face. I've shown you this before in a theme day post, and figured I'd have a go at it again.

A final feature in this gallery that I like is a replicated cave that has been installed. I will come back to the Museum at some point for a proper go through- I can tell you that on Canada Day, this place is exceedingly busy. With a whole lot of kids. Have I mentioned I'm not fond of children?

Mineralogy

During my Canada Day visit, I stopped in at all but one of the galleries in the Museum of Nature- I knew the fossils gallery would be far too busy- but photographed in just two. The Earth Gallery covers rocks, minerals, crystals, and those forces that make the world work. There are extensive display cases here with examples of rocks, as well as before and after versions of what can be done with minerals or crystals. I have had an aunt of mine in here- she was completely taken with the place, and we were easily in here more than an hour.

There is an extensive area covering volcanoes and earthquakes around the world, complete with samples and interactive activities.

One of the interactive activities is a global map that can be shifted in setting or focused in on a given area. You can also shift the time, from a day to a month, to get a look at where notable seismic events have taken place in that period. This first screen is the previous week's worth of activity, while the second is the previous 24 hours. Each dot, in green or purple, designates an epicenter.

Here are more of those displayed minerals and crystals.

The Arctic

Development of the Arctic Gallery has been done in collaboration and consultation with indigenous people of the Far North. This includes artifacts or clothing, writing in three languages (one of which is an Inuit language), and panels that reflect "our story" as opposed to the traditional objective way of phrasing things. I like the decor around the gallery, which is colourful and often features wildlife.

Human beings have learned to live in the Far North, first the First Nations, and then those white people who came into the North for one reason or another. Adaptation was always called upon for them, either in clothing or tools needed to live in such an unforgiving place.

On my way out, I paused to photograph a display case with these birds, and then those slabs of ice again. The Arctic Gallery left me impressed.