Three hundred years after a forest burns,
it grows back fully / Six days after the flames / black bears return for berries. / The restoration / of the world leaks /through a broken dam
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Art | Arts & Culture | Creation | News
Pure joy on ice
Clear skies greeted the Antigua, a sailing vessel carrying artists into the Arctic Circle. “We were in the right spot for all of these belugas that kept coming around the corner of this little coastline,” Phil Irish describes. Two artists hooked up their underwater sound equipment to speakers. “Belugas are like songbirds,” says Irish. “They’re…
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Tactile colour, tangible memory
“You know, she doesn’t glue any of it down,” the museum worker says. I’m peering at an intricate piece of LEGO art by Katherine Duclos. Her exhibition, The Light & Colour We Carry, is taking place in the Art Rental & Sales showroom room of the Vancouver Art Gallery. The museum worker spins on his…
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Hard row to hoe
An estimated 85,000 farmers are on track to retire in the next six years, and they won’t necessarily be replaced, according to the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. It’s difficult “attracting employees to the sector due to challenges such as rural location, type of work and wages,” the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported in 2023….
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Roots in space
Most of us have heard of hydroponics, a system for growing plants in solution rather than soil, but when Peter VanderZaag, potato breeder from Alliston, Ontario and President of the World Potato Congress, first mentioned aeroponics I did a double-take. “What’s that?” You can’t grow tubers in solution, so hydroponics isn’t an option for crops…
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Food security revolution
“As a follower of Jesus, I am called to share my God-given talents to achieve social justice through food security,” Peter VanderZaag told Christian Courier. “Looking back over my career, I am blessed to see great impact through the relationships I have built in over 60 countries working on potatoes and living and sharing my…
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From taboo to food revolution
Kigezi region, the highlands of Western Uganda, celebrates potatoes. I’m not kidding. Potatoes are one of the primary identity markers of the Bakiga people who call it home. So it surprised me to learn that potatoes were introduced to the region just over a hundred years ago. Not only that, they were initially met with…
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The humble, beloved potato
With a tagline of “Harvesting Diversity, Feeding Hope,” the humble potato is being celebrated around the world this month. As the UN General Assembly recently recognized, the hardy potato is positioned to combat hunger and provide food security: it’s “one of humanity’s most important and universally loved staple foods.” Potatoes are also a unique crop…
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Art | Arts & Culture | News | World News
From death to life. Literally.
On March 31, one of the most unusual auctions in the world went live for the third time. “Icons Save Lives” is a collection of Ukrainian Orthodox icons painted by 34 contemporary artists who used empty ammunition boxes and bullet casings from the ongoing war against Russia as their canvases. Proceeds from the auction will…
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Sleeping in thin places
“Aren’t you ever afraid of sleep?” my little sister asked once. “Anyone could break in and you wouldn’t know.” She’s right. There’s a surrender in becoming insensible to the world around you. Sleep scares us because it’s a dress rehearsal for death. “Lazarus is sleeping,” Jesus tells his disciples. “Lazarus is dead.” Death is the…
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Unsettling iconography
Canadian artist Amanda Le Blanc is creating a series of hyper-realistic watercolour images of crucified birds, embodying the hurt church has caused. “Even though it is immediately very jarring and visceral, what can come out of the conversations around these pieces can be very hopeful,” she said. Le Blanc graduated Redeemer University as an art…
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CC’s “Buy local” Christmas Guide
One of the best things about Christian Courier (in my biased view) is that you’ll come across Canadian artists you’ve never heard of before. Chances are you first heard of poet Andrew Lafleche and photographer Karene-Isabelle Jean-Baptiste right here, with us. We don’t want your engagement with these brilliant creators to end there. That’s why, at the end of the year,…
