Government favours traditional ‘war memorial’ for 1812 monument, artist says

OTTAWA — The federal government wants its new War of 1812 monument to be a traditional 19th century war memorial rather than a piece of contemporary public art with a message of peace, says a Toronto sculptor who entered the design competition.

Eldon Garnet was of the six finalists chosen last December by the competition jury. But his design and those of three other artists were eliminated last week when the jury abruptly cut the number of finalists to two.

The National Capital Commission, which is co-sponsoring the design competition with the Department of Canadian Heritage, says the four designs were ruled out because they didn’t meet technical, esthetic or historical criteria.

But Garnet believes his design met the criteria “120 per cent.” He was supposed to get an explanation of his design’s alleged deficiencies Wednesday, but the NCC cancelled on short notice, saying it needed time to compile the information and run it past the jury.

Garnet thinks the issue is one of esthetics. Consideration of the proposed designs has been dominated by a “conservative” Heritage Canada that wanted “a war memorial from the 19th century,” he said.

By contrast, Garnet hoped to create a “peace memorial” that evoked the loss of life among First Nations during the War of 1812. His design of a riderless horse did that in a “poetic” but contemporary manner, he said.

“I had and never will have any interest in creating a literal, figurative war representation as propaganda. In front of our Parliament Buildings, I would have erected a monument that reminds our leaders about peace, not war.”

The five-member jury that reviewed the designs for the monument includes only two actual artists: Michel Binette, a leading bronze sculptor who works within the figurative tradition, and Mohawk artist Greg A. Hill.

The others are Marta Farevaag, a prominent urban planner from Vancouver, Robert Henderson, Parks Canada’s former military curator for Ontario, and Denis Racine, executive director of major events and celebrations at Canadian Heritage.

The Citizen asked all four of the eliminated finalists to share their designs with the public, but Garnet was the only one who agreed to do so.

Another eliminated finalist, Ken Lum, said it wouldn’t be appropriate to reveal his proposal “out of respect for the National Capital Commission.”

In an email, Lum acknowledged that he “did transgress several of the guidelines which I found to be too restrictive. I would only offer that it was difficult to think in a more contemporary way given the guidelines,” he said.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Don Butler