In This Issue
Shakespeare: An Extraordinary World
Festival highlights Bard's influence on Canadian arts and culture
BY MARY DICKIESON
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| Retired Ottawa engineer Lloyd Sullivan smiles behind a replica of the Sanders portrait he has lent to the University. To see the “real” 400-year-old portrait of William Shakespeare, visit the “Shakespeare — Made in Canada” exhibition at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre. Photo by Dean Palmer Photography |
Renowned Canadian actor William Hutt opened the “Shakespeare — Made in Canada” festival Jan. 11 with a flourish of words befitting the Bard himself.
“Over 40 years ago, the first Lear I did was set on top of the world in the High Canadian Arctic,” said Hutt, who is honorary patron of the five-month regional festival. “I recall a later version of Romeo and Juliet where Romeo's first language was French and Juliet's was English — echoes of Canada's two solitudes. That kind of adaptation lives at the heart of this extraordinary festival.”
Hutt thanked Lloyd Sullivan, owner of the Sanders portrait of William Shakespeare, for “providing Shakespeare's face, wrapped in our own history and our own understanding of the world around us.”
Sullivan's family heirloom fronts the largest exhibition ever mounted by the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (MSAC). Taking more than 80 per cent of the art centre's gallery space, the museum-style exhibition offers an extensive display of art and cultural materials that reflect Shakespeare's influence on the arts, theatre and pop culture in Canada. See related story.
Joint curators of the exhibition are MSAC director Judith Nasby and English professor Daniel Fischlin, who heads the Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project (CASP).
The art centre and the University have partnered with the City of Guelph, the Guelph Arts Council and the Stratford Festival of Canada to encourage participation in the “Shakespeare — Made in Canada” festival, said U of G president Alastair Summerlee. As a result of this collaboration, more than 40 organizations in Guelph and surrounding area will showcase their own excellence and creativity during the next few months.
“We will be entertained through a number of theatrical and musical productions, inspired by the work of local artists, amazed by exhibitions at our civic museums and challenged by film presentations and public lectures,” he said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for the University community to discover the vibrant arts community that surrounds our campus.”
Speaking on behalf of the city, councillor Gloria Kovach said the festival has created new opportunities for cultural and arts groups and will contribute to the culture-positive reputation that Guelph and the region have earned over the years. She also acknowledged the University's leadership role in envisioning and organizing “Shakespeare — Made in Canada,” and said the city has contributed $50,000 to help market the festival, with an additional $20,000 coming from the province.
“We want to make Guelph a tourism destination, and this festival is a terrific contribution,” she said.
The idea for “Shakespeare — Made in Canada” sprouted from the ever-expanding CASP research and database.
“It came out of the fact that we were collecting all these artifacts and the research was generating so much activity,” says Fischlin. “But it never would have been possible if president Summerlee hadn't said: ‘We're going to make this happen.'”
Fischlin met Sullivan while researching images of Shakespeare, and their subsequent friendship brought Sullivan into the U of G family. The festival marks the first time the Sanders portrait has been on display in Canada since it was introduced by the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2002. Since then, the painting has undergone myriad research and scientific tests to authenticate it.
According to Sullivan, “this must be the most thoroughly researched and tested portrait in existence.” He says he wants people to see the portrait, learn about its history and understand the effort that went into authenticating it.
At the festival opening, he added that he's happy to see the painting on display in Guelph. “I believe this festival will turn out to be a crowning achievement for the arts in Canada, and it will also be a crowning achievement for the University of Guelph and its partners.”
The MSAC exhibition includes information on the portrait's trail of scientific tests, which reveal that it was painted — as the portrait is dated — in 1603 and has not been altered since.
Sullivan and Fischlin spoke Jan. 12 about the painting's history and Sullivan's efforts to trace it to his ancestor, John Sanders, who is believed to be the artist. This was the first in an ongoing speaker series hosted on campus as part of the “Shakespeare — Made in Canada” festival.
Additional lectures and other events — both on and off campus — are listed on the festival website at www.shakespearemadeincanada.ca.