Get a Glimpse of Kluane National Park and Reserve in Toronto with "Encounters with the Sublime"
News Release
Photographic exhibition by Bradford Washburn and Sebastião Salgado running February 8 to March 4
February 1, 2017 Toronto, Ontario Parks Canada Agency
“Encounters with the Sublime,” an exhibition of stunning black and white photographs of Kluane National Park and Reserve’s high mountain country, opens in Toronto at the Alliance française de Toronto’s Pierre Léon Gallery on February 8. This exhibition, curated by Jessica Vellenga, former Yukon Arts Centre Community Engagement Coordinator for the Visual Arts Department, will run until March 4.
Canada’s national parks, like Kluane National Park and Reserve, are gateways to nature, adventure and discovery. This exhibition compares and contrasts works by two internationally known photographers of different eras: Sebastião Salgado, a renowned contemporary photojournalist from Brazil, and the late Bradford Washburn, a pioneering American mountaineer and geographer.
All are welcome to the opening of the exhibition on February 8th at 6:30 p.m., at the Pierre Léon Gallery (24 Spadina Road, Toronto, Ontario). Light refreshments will be provided.
Quotes
“Canada’s national parks provide outstanding examples of our country’s natural landscapes and provide Canadians with access to our natural heritage. Kluane National Park and Reserve is a truly unique place in our broad network of protected natural and cultural areas, and we are proud to present it to even more Canadians through this exhibit of stunning photography.”
The Honourable Catherine McKenna
Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada
“These dramatic vistas of Kluane National Park captured decades apart speak to the endurance of the rugged terrain but also tracks glacial retreat and changes in our remote corner of Canada.”
Mary Bradshaw
Gallery Director/Curator, Yukon Arts Centre
“The Alliance française de Toronto is excited to welcome this outstanding exhibit by Bradford Washburn and Sebastião Salgado, one of the greatest photographers of our time. We are pleased to work with Parks Canada and the Yukon Arts Centre. This exhibit will be an opportunity for the people of Toronto to discover not only the vastness and beauty of Kluane National Park and Reserve, but also its fragility and the need to preserve it.”
Patricia Guérin
Cultural Director, Alliance française de Toronto
Quick Facts
- Kluane – high in the mountains of southwest Yukon – is a land of extremes. The park is home to Canada’s highest peak (5,959-metre Mount Logan), its largest ice field and North America’s most genetically diverse grizzly population. Today, Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Kluane First Nation and Parks Canada are jointly responsible for the management of the park’s natural and cultural resources.
- Bradford Washburn was a mountaineer, museum director, and self-taught photographer, who first visited the Kluane area in the 1930s and made the first ascent of Mt. Lucania, then North America’s highest unclimbed summit. He pioneered large-format aerial photography, initially to document his climbs and assist in planning future climbs. Washburn passed away in 2007.
- Sebastião Salgado is one of today’s most renowned photojournalists. He recently completed an eight-year project entitled Genesis, sponsored by UNESCO, “designed to reconnect us to how the world was before humanity altered it almost beyond recognition.” Kluane National Park was one of his destinations, and he has very generously donated prints to Parks Canada.
Related Links
Parks Canada - Kluane National Park and Reserve
- 30 -
Contacts
Stella Patera
Public Outreach Education Officer
Parks Canada Agency
867-393-6741
Media Relations
Parks Canada Agency
855-862-1812
pc.media@pc.gc.ca
Search for related information by keyword