In her poem, Sing Your Own Songs, PEI visual artist and writer Elaine Harrison says, "Art is an adventure for you alone to experience first hand." This past year, a group of Island women took up the adventure of exploring PEI arts of the 20th century, and the result of their work is a new history of PEI women's contributions to arts and crafts in the 20th century, to be made available on the Web.
The public history, called, first hand: arts, crafts and culture by PEI women of the 20th century, will be officially launched on January 16 in the Studio Theatre at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown. The launch will begin with viewing at 6:30 pm, followed by presentations at 7 p.m. All are welcome.
Heidi Rankin of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, has been one of the project's coordinators. About the project, she says, "What better way to ring in a new year in the new millennium than to look back over a hundred years of women's accomplishments in creating and contributing to PEI's arts and culture? "The research that has been done for first hand shows us just how much talent and achievement we have to celebrate.
The first hand project consists of six modules discussing the creative work of women's hands. All the modules have been lovingly researched and written by PEI women, each of whom brings her own voice and experience to her module, whether her perspective is that of an expert historian and writer or an expert practitioner of her art or craft. The modules are Mi'Kmaq Baskets: Living Legends, a basket weaving module by Tiffany Sark; Freeing Verse and Liberating Stories, a literary writing module by Jane Ledwell; Rags and Bags: Functional Art from Empty Sacks and Worn Clothing, a mat hooking module by Anne Nicholson; Perspective is Everything, a photography module by Sasha Mullally; Pieces of History, a quilting module by Ann-Louise Beaumont and Edith Zakem; and Home is Where the Art is, a visual arts module by Sandy Kowalik.
Sasha Mullally, the research coordinator for the project, comments on its importance to PEI's historical narrative. "The history of what women do is interesting because women did it, because it builds upon our knowledge, and hopefully our understanding, of the roles and daily activities of our historical forebears: what they did and what they thought, what they discarded and what they valued and held dear."
According to Sandy Bentley, of the PEI Interministerial Women's Secretariat, and another of the project's organizers, "first hand will fill a gap in our public knowledge of women's contributions to arts, crafts and culture. The stories and artistic works that our researchers have uncovered are simply too important and too interesting to be forgotten."
After the January 16 launch, the first hand modules will be available to the general public through the Internet through the government of Prince Edward Island's InfoPEI Web site at: http://www.gov.pe.ca/go/firsthand. The content of the Web site will also be available on a CD-Rom, for use in classrooms and libraries that do not have Web access. In addition, a booklet will provide an introduction to the Web resources.
The project, first hand has been made possible by a committed group of community volunteers, with the financial sponsorship of the Government of Canada's Canadian Rural Partnership Pilot Projects Program, the Prince Edward Island Millennium Fund, the Prince Edward Island Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and the Division of Culture, Heritage, Recreation and Sport. In-kind support has also come from the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the provincial Francophone Affairs Division, the Interministerial Women's Secretariat as well as the Departments of Development and Technology and Education and the University of Prince Edward Island and Carrefour Infotech.
Contact: Jane Ledwell, Publication Coordinator, 892-2940