Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 19, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg Fyffee pm september 7 the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and the authors name will be used and letters Are subject to Reader for us canadians Well represented at Art gallery somebody should teach Dennis Kucherawy to recognize Canadian aft if he is going to continue to write arts entries for the free mis arts Calendar entry in the september 5 edition is quite he begins with the following editorial comment group exhibitions from the Perma nent collection of the Winnipeg Art gallery Are the name of the game for the wags fall of you want to find out about contemporary Manitoba or even contemporary Canad an youll have to look else in if any member of the Public wanted to find out something about contemporary or even Ca Nadian on the Day this remark he or she would in the the second of a series of exhibitions spotlighting Manitoba this exhibition of Betty Dimock paintings which Kucherawy does not mention continues for two More gallery six is currently filled with the sculpture of Michael although he does live at present in los so does Joni who still is claimed As Canadian Content on the radio and at the Juno galleries seven and eight Are devoted to works representative of a number of Canadas most noted contemporary including taken from the wags permanent Kucherawy should learn that col Lection shows and contemporary Cana Dian shows Are not mutually As he another major show coming up this linear Vari consists entirely of the work of contemporary Canadian including Winnipeg Painter Sheila the Manitoba exhibition opening this november does indeed qualify As a show for this fall both websters and the Oxford English dictionary include november As one of the autumn in North America at someone interested in contemporary Canadian and Manitoban Art this fall season might indeed find it at the Winnipeg Art As objectionable As Kucherawy disregard of information is his refer ence to the painters in the november Manitoba exhibition As various Winni Peg female their sex is an unnecessary qualification to the description of this female artists is the equivalent of authoress or which women have Long been decry Reg As demeaning if the four artists in question had been they would not have been de As various Winnipeg male i suspect that they would have been referred As four Manitoba with the emphasis on their not their Kucherawy Little carping entry manages to misinform the Public and denigrate certain artists All at informed criticism is challenging and but it is hard to see How this particular entry serves anyone Elizabeth Legge associate curator Winnipeg Art gallery Winnipeg is it Art when a craftsman fabricates a Flash multicoloured hot dog sign for no one rushes Forth to unveil it and to pronounce it to be a work of when a similarly constructed Flasher called Etalon is created for a secret it gets ceremoniously unveiled As but then the flashing hot dog sign is not at the Winnipeg Art gallery and no one accuses it of reflecting the Flat Prairie consciousness nor of creating an aesthetic environment to which the viewer can Etalon is not but is it really Art Why cannot the Cost be revealed is it an achievement that can Only be duplicated by a talented Artisan in any Etalon is a Welcome sight in to a downtown that is mostly devoid of statues and but is full of Park ing Weed Jungles and Mono to repetitious Bolike Etalon it at serve Well to introduce a Little color and there is a place downtown where we go for the visual stimulation that is so essential for emotional what is to be found there too often it is rubbish that is commonly found at any garbage viewers Are challenged to understand piles of to relate to heaps of discarded rags and empty picture Blank canvasses and other creations get heavy verbal support with pop psychology and occult old Young Dif Ferent races and even the most Primi Tive have been relating to real works of Art for without being told Why they True Art stands on its own not on the lengthy explanations on the state of mind of its while trash is regardless of its Cost and Loca let the gallery place some of their Art on the unlabelled and in just to see How Many passer Bys would recognize and Admire them As artistic and How Many would Call the sanitation department to complain about these objects de imagine the howl of the uncultured hordes if the Cost of these creations were the gallery has a Fine an excellent Library to whet the appetite for a Well stocked gift Worth while programs and film its permanent collection includes some real How can most exhibits then be so cheap and mediocre Why Are there so few showings by locals Why dont More citizens visit the free displays it is High time for More Art and less hype at the Over the far too Many people went there to see the emperors and then found out what he really Jeffrey Winnipeg poor Quality i am saddened and embarrassed by the show Manitoba series by Betty currently on at the Winnipeg Art 1 feel ashamed to be an artist in Winnipeg when our major institution for the visual arts is exhibiting work of such poor to make matters this show is supposed to be part of a series of the Best work by Manitoba it is a tragedy that the Public is being Misin formed by this especially when there Are so Many Superior artists whose work is not being Given this kind of Peter Legris Winnipeg Art expression lately we have heard and read much about our Art who know that i am a member and Volun Teer of the often ask me what i think of i remind them that the Winnipeg Art gallery is for All of to satisfy the majority will not do the minority has its rights i think of an artist As one who is sensitive to the spirit of his and expresses it in his contemporary Art is difficult to understand and to a sculpture of Light by Michael is one work by a Canadian shown at the gallery there Are two different Levels of Art one that is familiar and and less familiar but stirring or in its monthly the Art gallery publishes articles about artists and their free to members or May be purchased for 25 the gallery trains tour who will help you to see what is it shows films about makes videotapes to go with the invites artists to speak about their provides catalogues with information and has an extensive program for school Stu the gallery provides us with All things so that we can look into so that we May judge that which is this takes time and How Many works of Art which we now find Good were disapproved of at one time in showing works of its permanent collection the gallery gives us the Opportunity to see what is Katy Simons Winnipeg Otta Aalberta Energy pact is bad for nation i5ts face it in the end wre going to set what Vou 1 can get and the people Aee 60in6td6etit canadians should not be Happy with the Energy agreement which Ottawa and the Alberta government worked out after months of warring with one the conclusion of that Strug while heralded at the time by the spokesmen of both May Well signal a turn for this country which will be disastrous in the Long much has been said about the need for Canadian Consumers to pay world but who sets world prices the open countries do not the Oil companies or provinces within in Canadas Case it is the provinces and the Oil companies that have demanded world prices and they will be the major beneficiaries of the higher in the Case of open the coun tries As a whole Benefit from higher Oil in our it is Alberta and the Oil not Canada As a that will get the largest amount of the agreement Between Ottawa and Alberta represents a Clear capitulation of the Federal government to a prov Alberta used As Blunt a form of blackmail As could be used by any meet our or we will Cut off your if each province acted As Alberta we would be ten Gas and Oil constitute a critical element in any Economy yet Alberta has established that it can control the distribution of that resource to other parts of Canada with and become enormously wealthy in the the agreement ignores the realities of Canadian look at our size and at the latitudes within which we Are then think of what paying world prices Means to countries like Japan or the Western european countries As compared to Canada is a sprawling it takes a tremendous amount of fuel to carry our services and people across the Are we going to penalize our selves because of the Large spaces we must contend with virtually none of the other major Energy users aside from the soviet Union have the harsh climate which canadians must it takes an enormous amount of Energy to heat buildings and drive vehicles in the our mismanaged Economy is already placing great hardship upon i see elderly people who can scarcely live in their houses because they cannot afford the Price of businesses Are literally being eaten up by interest rates of 20 or More per cent who Are giving up their farms in de Spair families whose Homes Are in jeopardy because of usurious interest on top of All two Levels of government have agreed to place upon the Canadian consumer the Burden of world fuel prices and the enormous Burden of inflation which will accompany the higher Harold Jantz Winnipeg poor performance Over the canadians witnessed the Liberal government making a mockery of the parliamentary system and taking Little action on Canadas ailing economic minister of transport Jeanluc Pepin announced cuts in via rail routes through an rather than bringing the Issue before prime minister Trudeau travelled to Africa to work on his pet project of redistribution of wealth among coun while his own country is in economic postmaster general Andre Ouellet had the Gall to Tell Canadian business men to find another Way to do and was very slow to find a solution to the recent postal these actions added up to a prime minister and Cabinet which showed no concern for the country economic and no respect for the parliamentary system of the government did not Stop the Kent commission took after the newspaper Industry and its recommendations smack of government intervention and the Mcdonald com Mission dragged the ramp through the mud for something that happened ten years on the Energy the agreement Between Ottawa and Alberta exposed the liberals As a group which used deceitful tactics during the 1980 elec Tion when they did not Tell the Canadian Public the truth about their Energy the present Liberal administration in Ottawa is bankrupting the driving private investment South of the Border and has turned Region against it is leading Canada Down the Road to economic government intervention and centralization of the it deserves to be replaced and canadians will have that Chance in just Over two years Harwood Federal system deprives Ottawa of legitimacy its the condition that gives a govern ment As Well As authority in the eyes of the it is also the condition which Means people can disagree with particular but accept the fact the government has the right to make confident that the due process exists for them to change the government at the next legitimacy is therefore tied up in Confidence Confidence that the govern ment representative of a Broad consensus Confidence that All sectors of the Community have an equal Opportunity to influence election out comes Confidence that governments that alienate a certain sector of the Community consistently can be put out of there is a question of legitimacy in should a government enter ing its fifth year in office sign major economic development deals As bait to the voters does it have the moral right to make Lon term contractual a arrangements that could be Adverse to the when its mandate is expiring and when its anxiety to have them concluded Means its judgement could be clouded does it have the legitimacy to sign the deals first and have the election Frances Russell when it is too late should it not put Forward the deals during the Campaign and let the voters judge Canadas Federal system lacks both legitimacy and and this is the fundamental reason behind the in terminable Federal provincial Power struggles that have become such a tragic hallmark of Row Over the Federal govern ments decision to inaugurate a sports Pool is but the latest example of the baneful influence of new Brunswick Premier Richard one of Only two premiers to offer support for any of Ottawa Initia has lately turned sour on the Federal in an interview with the Globe and mail Hatfield said Ottawa Headstrong decisions and unilateral All de signed to gain greater Public recognition and support at the expense of the were threatening Canadian yet he agreed it All stemmed from Ottawa belief that such actions were necessary to halt the erosion of its writing in the latest Issue of policy a publication of the Canadian Institute for research on Public Tom former Winnipeg free press former Deputy minister and pol icy advisor to Lester currently Dean of administrative studies at Dalhousie offers some in sights into Canadas legitimacy Kent Points out that no National party can enjoy because All Are locked out of one or another Region of the National govern ments of whatever political Stripe never enjoy the moral authority they require to unlike All other has no effective representation of the regions at the which compounds the problems created by the absence of a truly National political the vacuum has been filled by provincial Kent but he Points out that this is premiers have become the Provin Cial spokesmen on National but that premiers Are elected on provincial issues for the most provincial pre Miers and More their Cau answer to their constituents in in our smaller often in parochial my argument is in no Way a criticism of them As the Point is because we have Only a nominal second our system has developed in a Way that requires premiers to play an unnatural role in National for which they Are not Kent proposes an elected second whose members would be chosen in province wide constituencies by transferable it would have delaying and reviewing he also advocates standing Federal provincial commissions on economic his solutions May be but his diagnosis is Canadas legitimacy crisis is aggravated by its political one the is always in Power and another the is always in Power the strains on an incomplete Federal sys tem Are exacerbated by the natural tendency of the provinces to assume the role of official opposition As con Stant critics of Federal action and by the equally natural tendency for voters to choose which level of government they want to enjoy the most Power on the basis of political preference rather than a rational division of constitutional re How Long the country can survive the politicization of its constitutional Struc Ture is hard to it has already gone to ridiculous the sports Pool is one another is the provinces constant Effort to get More Federal dollars for everything Manitoba even wants Ottawa to build its Northern roads while demanding that Ottawa cede More and More jurisdiction to Kent Doest hold out much Hope for regional representation at the so Long As Only the 11 governments Are involved in constitutional the he Points Are usually unwilling to add to their doonesbury 1vb Fisl about of widow Ilika jumps Oft a ;