DEFINING MOMENTS – Coming Together Through Engagement

A multi-faceted public exhibition of stories of liberation, courage,

and sacrifice of the Canadian Military forces.

Opening Reception

February 12, 2018 7:00 p.m.

Upstairs Second Floor 

Featuring:

Van Kijkduinstraat

A multi-channeled media arts installation

Artists: Irwin Oostindie and Inessa Baustad Oostindie

Van Kijkduinstraat is a multi-channeled media arts installation commemorating the emotional story of the artists’ father and grandfather, Dirk Oostindie, who as a Dutch youth escaped the ‘Hunger Winter’ of Amsterdam under Nazi occupation during World War II. The work illuminates Canada’s role in the liberation of the Netherlands. Even today, Canada is fondly remembered by the Dutch, as liberators, who in 1945 rescued millions from distress and starvation. Curators, Laura Lee Coles and Gayle O’Hara recognized that Van Kijkduinstraat resonates a “defining moment” in Canada’s military history and engages viewers by way of its multi-layered expressiveness.  It is a poignant national and local human-interest story and it was chosen to be the museum’s inaugural public art exhibition funded by Vancouver Cultural Services.