Released on September 25, 2009
Cultural Olympiad 2010 is the cultural component of the 2010 Winter Games
The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) have added two more Saskatchewan artists to the impressive lineup of talent taking part in Cultural Olympiad 2010.
Dana Claxton, an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes film and video, installation, performance and photography and Brett Bell an award-winning filmmaker have both had work selected for inclusion.
"This is more great news as VANOC continues to add Saskatchewan artists to the lineup for Cultural Olympiad 2010," Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Dustin Duncan said. "The opportunity to exhibit their work on a world stage is a well-deserved recognition of their accomplishments and creativity."
Claxton's work is held in numerous public collections, including the Saskatchewan Arts Board, Mackenzie Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Moose Jaw Art Museum and Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada. Her work has been screened internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Sundance Festival in Utah and Microwave in Hong Kong. Claxton's family is from Wood Mountain First Nation near Assiniboia and her Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux ancestry strongly influences her work. Her piece titled, An Wolek-Regatta City, selected for CUE: Artists' Videos, will be shown during the 2010 Winter Games on a giant LED screen in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery in downtown Vancouver.
"What really stands out for me is the grouping of exceptional artists that have been brought together for this show," Claxton said. "That, combined with moving the art out of the gallery into the outdoors for everyone to see and react to, makes it an exciting project to be involved with."
Brett Bell is a Regina-based filmmaker who has been making short films since 1984, including the internationally award-winning Blueberry, Home Town and Slatland. He has also written and directed television documentaries broadcast nationally on CTV, Bravo! and History Television. Bell was one of 16 winners chosen from across Canada in the Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition (CODE), film and video competition. Code Motion Pictures will feature commissioned short films on the theme of the human body in motion; its power and frailty in facing the challenges of sport, art and life. The series of films, including Bell's Climb, will be shown on towering high-definition screens in Vancouver and Whistler, and on computer monitors around the world, during the 2010 Winter Games.
"Having the Olympics and Paralympic games as a screening venue is certainly different for me," Bell said. "With tens, even hundreds of thousands watching in Vancouver and the potential of millions more on the Internet, to say it's a unique opportunity is the understatement of the year."
In addition to the Cultural Olympiad, Saskatchewan artists and performers can still apply to participate through the Saskatchewan Pavilion. Visit the Artists' Registry at http://www.artsboard.sk.ca/Vancouver_Olympics_2010/vanoc_home.htm to learn more. Deadline is September 30, 2009.
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For more information, contact:
Janet Peters
Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4967
Cell: 306-533-4909