Arts and Culture
Museum transforms music into team sport MICHELLE NASH michelle.nash@metroland.com
The latest exhibit at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum gives people of all ages the chance to use their entire bodies to play a marching band song. Fanfare by Molior is an exhibition that was created in Montreal as an interactive sound installation. The six pillars’ sensitivity to a participant’s movement when they walk through creates the different musical instrumental sounds – all of which combine to produce a portion
of the song Les nains by Montreal composer Bernard Poirier. Designer Melissa Mongiat created the piece as an educational opportunity for children to work together to create one song. “It is a great way for people to interact with music and sounds and movements,” Mongiat said. Students from Broadview Elementary Public School were the lucky first children to run through the exhibit. Supplied with streamers for added fun all the students ran through the pillars with
smiles on their faces. Liam Mason said he enjoyed the drum sounds the best. “It is so much fun, I loved running through it,” he said. His classmate, Maddie Fulford could not hold her excitement in as she explained how much fun she had running through the exhibit and hearing the music. “Having the streamer was my favourite part,” Fulford exclaimed. Museum director Stephen Quick also found himself amazed when he walked through the pillars for the first time. Mongiat said it is the adults that she loves to watch because they are all trying to figure out how it works and the best way to make the complete song play.
For Quick and Molior general manager Andrée Duchaine it was great to watch the school children run through and work at making the song together. “It is great when they realize it is a song and they have to work together to make it sound pretty,” Duchaine said. Fanfare’s first exhibition was well received when it was presented at the Montreal Science Centre during the 2009 Eureka! Festival. The exhibit in Ottawa will run for three months.
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Rideau Street Renewal (Dalhousie Street to Rideau River) Integrated Sewer, Watermain and Road Rehabilitation
Public Open House The City of Ottawa invites you to attend an open house to discuss the renewal of Rideau Street on:
For more information, please visit the Public Meetings and Notices section on ottawa.ca.
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Thursday, 16 June 2011, 6 to 9 p.m. at the Sandy Hill Community Centre, 250 Somerset Street East, Ottawa.
2011-02-7030-12006
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OTTAWA THIS WEEK - EAST - June 9, 2011
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Have Your Say Notice of Open House - Public Consultation Petrie Island Management Plan You are invited to an open house public consultation to learn about and help finalize the draft management plan for Petrie Island. The City has worked with the community and stakeholders over the past year to prepare a 25-year management plan for Petrie Island. The plan provides a long-term vision, goals and objectives for the management of this special place which includes a 290 hectare protected natural area and recreation destination on the Ottawa River. City staff and project consultants will be on hand to answer your questions and receive comments. The open house will take place on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Room 340 at the Orléans Client Service Centre 255 Centrum Boulevard. Drop by any time between 7 and 9 p.m. Kevin Jones, Planner Parks, Recreation and Culture City of Ottawa Tel: (613) 580- 2424 ext. 24339 Fax: 613-580-9612 E-Mail: kevin.jones@ottawa.ca
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Photo by Michelle Nash
Liam Mason can not control his excitement as he runs through the Fanfare Sound exhibit at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. The new exhibit uses the body’s movements through the six colourful pillars to play a musical sound.
East end authors nominated for Trillium Book Award MICHELLE NASH michelle.nash@metroland.com
Three Ottawa authors have been nominated for their excellence in writing. The 24th Annual Trillium Book Award Finalists recognizes excellence in Ontario’s authors. Gloucester’s Estelle Beauchamp, Murielle Beaulieu of Vanier and Ottawa’s Andrée Christensen were nominated for the French Language Finalists category. Just being nominated in an award in itself, all three say. “You always hope someone will read your book and now this award will help with that,” Beaulieu said. Beaulieu moved to Ottawa in 1970 from a small town in New Brunswick to pursue her dream of studying philosophy and writing. “I have always felt the need to write. When I moved here I started from zero but soon found my place in this city,” Beaulieu said. Her novel, Laisse-moi te dire is a compilation of letters from all ages offering guidance. Beauchamp’s novel, Un souffle venu de loin looks at a story of a family growing up during war time. Her third novel to date, this one was written partly from a
memory she had. Beauchamp explained the novel ended up taking on a life of its own. Beauchamp, originally from Montreal, came to Ottawa to teach French to civil servants. She has found that teaching has added an element to her writing. “Writing is a solitary thing. Teaching is not. With teaching, you are talking and giving to others and they give back to you,” Beauchamp said. Andrée Christensen is a poet, photographer, artist and translator, which she likes to bring into her novels. “I try to make my other interests like photography accompany the novel,” Christensen said. For Christensen, she finds she can become too involved in the process of writing. “As the novel evolves I evolve.” Writing since she could hold a pencil, Christensen, who has been nominated in the past for a Trillium Book Award, sees this opportunity to shed light on francophone authors. “It is difficult to gain recognition as a francophone author. You can feel like you get lost in an ocean of publications that come out every year. I hope this nomination will give franco-Ontario a voice and enlarge our readership,” she said.