TORONTO HOSTED AND A NEW ART EXHIBITION ENTITLED "REMAINS TO BE SEEN"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.06.2009 20:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recently Toronto hosted and a new art exhibition
entitled "Remains to Be Seen". Produced under the umbrella of The
International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies in
Toronto, the multi-media show hopes to raise the public’s awareness
about genocide. Featuring work from 16 artists across North America,
well-known Canadian movie director of Armenian heritage, Atom Egoyan
says the show at Toronto’s Lennox Contemporary gets to the core of
what human genocide really means. "An artist’s work can pierce the
heart in a different way," says Egoyan. "In the case of genocide
there’s been such a history of denial about that," the Canadian
director told Canada AM today. Delving into the subject matter in
2002’s "Ararat," Egoyan’s movie was loosely based on the Siege of
Van during the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century, an event
that is denied by the government of Turkey. That film explored the
specific impact of that historical event. It also examined the nature
of truth and its representation through art.

As Egoyan says of "Ararat," "I wasn’t so much talking about the
historic event, but rather how that denial had created a transmission
of trauma from one generation to another." That tragedy holds deep
personal meaning for Egoyan and his wife, actress Arsinee Khanjian.

The after-effects of genocide are clearly evidenced in the works by
Ulysses Castellanos, Joyce Lau, Steven Loft, Katie Pretti, Shannon
Scully, Veronika Szkudlarek, Bill Wolff and Arie Galles.