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Passionate Vision: Intimate portraits of Canada

A photography exhibition capturing the striking beauty of Canada's national parks from the perspective of Canada's first woman astronaut, Dr. Roberta Bondar, opens in the Institute of Contemporary Culture's (ICC) Roloff Beny Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum on November 4, 2000. Passionate Vision: Intimate portraits of Canada's national parks is a spectacular collection of over 100 colour photographs by Roberta Bondar that showcase both the beauty and fragility of all 41 of Canada's national parks. A travelling exhibition produced by the Canadian Museum of Nature and presented by Investors Group, this photographic journey remains on display at the ROM until February 25, 2001.

Passionate Vision presents remarkable images of Canada's diverse landscapes, viewed from a wide range of breathtaking vantage points, from the glaciers of the Yukon's Kluane National Park to the sea stacks of Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands Park. This two-year project was undertaken by Dr. Bondar to bring to the world the diversity and grandeur of the Canadian environment that is protected in Canada's National Parks. Developing a love for the parks will encourage a sense of environmental responsibility on the part of Canadians. A renowned scientist, medical doctor, astronaut, and photographer, Dr. Bondar was first inspired to take this journey while travelling on the space shuttle Discovery in 1992.

"Space flight has provided me with a special insight and pride in Canada. I want all Canadians, and the people of the world, to share in the vision of our land and our identity with this special part of our planet," states Dr. Bondar. "Through my photographs, I have tried to broaden our view of what Canada is really about - by emphasizing the country's diversity, enormity, and sheer magnificence. "

Dr. Bondar used medium and large-format cameras, as well as a panoramic camera, to capture the essence and diversity of each of the parks photographed at ground-level and in aerial shots taken from helicopters and small airplanes. The collection of images also includes photographs of the Canadian Rockies, the Great Lakes, and Prince Edward Island, taken from space by NASA astronauts at 300 km above the Earth's surface.

"Roberta Bondar's Passionate Vision reaffirms that the best way to preserve Canada's special places is to tap into the emotional attachment that Canadians have with the natural world," says Dr. Chris Darling, curator of entomology in the ROM's Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology. "It helps to counter the recent and rather risky trend to view the world's ecosystems as capital assets, to put a price tag on nature."

Virtual visits to the parks featured are available through computer terminals in the exhibit linked to the National Parks website. Visitors can also learn more about Canada's fragile ecosystem though programs offered by the ROM's Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology (CBCB), and the Hands-on Biodiversity Gallery, a fun, family-oriented gallery devoted to environmental education which opened at the Museum last fall.

Passionate Vision travels to the ROM's Institute of Contemporary Culture as part of the exhibit's national tour across Canada until 2002. In November, coinciding with the opening at the ROM, Roberta Bondar will launch her book of photographs, entitled Passionate Vision - Discovering Canada's National Parks which contains over 100 full-colour portraits of Canada's national parks, with a foreward by The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Copies will be available in the ROM Shops for $60.00. A lecture and book signing by Dr. Bondar will take place in the ROM Theatre on Sunday, November 12 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $17; $15 for ROM members, seniors, and students. For more information, please call (416) 586-5797.

Passionate Vision is presented by the ROM's Institute of Contemporary Culture (ICC), a privately-funded entity within the ROM dedicated to the exploration of cultural issues in present day society, with an emphasis on contemporary Canada. Founded in 1989, it presents temporary exhibitions in the Roloff Beny Gallery which emphasize current thought in the fields of photography, design, film, the visual arts, and architecture. The ICC also organizes lectures and symposia, conducts research, and fosters the interaction of scholars, creators and the public. The noted art collector and philanthropist Bernard Ostry is the current Chair of the ICC Board. The upcoming ICC exhibition, A Total Eclipse: An Installation by Spring Hurlbut, is scheduled to open in April 2001.

 

 

Issue date:
October 20, 2000

For more information:
Media Relations
Tel.: 416.586.5547
Fax: 416.586.8022
E-mail: media@rom.on.ca

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