Read about the greatly successful Migrations Silent Auction held in support of this project...

The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece in 776 BC; they took place every four years until 393 Ad., when they were abolished by the Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I. The games were re-instituted in Athens in 1896; World War I pre-empted the 1916 Games. Next year's Olympics (2004) will take place again in Athens, Greece.

In antiquity, the Olympic Games were not only athletic competitive events, but also a gathering also of sculptors, poets, philosophers, musicians and other creative participants who took part in various competitions. We know that the famous historian Herodotus was "garlanded" in 44 BC along side gymnasts and track athletes. Greek sculptors taking part in the ancient games were influenced by the athletic bodies and created sculptures that were free standing, full of motion and energy, asymmetric and at the same time very much in balance. Most famous of those sculptors is Myron and his work titled Diskovolos or the Discus Thrower (see inset image).

Fine art competitions became an integral part of the Olympics during the Games of 1912, that were held in Stockholm, and continued through 1948 in London, where medals in gold, silver and bronze

"The Unswept Floor" Ray Arnatt

were awarded. Since 1948, the arts competitions were replaced by non-competitive Cultural Olympiads, occasions to celebrate the host country's cultural heritage. The organizers of the Athens 2004 Games have expressed a wish/dream to make the future Cultural Olympiads a permanent institution based in ancient Olympia.

The "Migrations in the Third Dimension: Tradition and Innovation in Canada and the Cyclades" project is an international cultural exchange celebrating tradition and innovation between members of two creatively active, aesthetically diverse, and historically comparable communities in the Canadian Prairies and the Aegean sea - Calgary, Alberta and Tinos, Greece.

Sundial by Chu Honsun

The three participants, The Calgary Contemporary Arts Society, The Cultural Foundation of Tinos and The ArtExchange, taking our cue from the Olympic Charter , are creating a structure that will "promote harmonious relations, mutual understanding and friendship" between practicing artists in non-competitive and ongoing quadrennial exchanges. To begin this cultural exchange, five Alberta sculptors will exhibit on Tinos in October of 2004, and in Calgary in November-January, 2005.

"Letter to the Greeks" by Isla Burns

Since we just entered the 21st century, the organizers of the "Migrations" project believe that we need new ways to be with each other , not grandiose visions that last for a day or two; we need a temperament that changes with the spirit of the times. It is for this reason that we proposed and will continue our exchanges on Tinos, the island that produced all the great painters and sculptors of the modern

Father Prayer by Katie Ohe

Greek nation; Tinos place in has the oldest School of Fine Arts, and has a very real connection to the modern Olympic Games, those revived by Coubertin. In 1894, the "Tinia" Pan Hellenic athletic meeting took place on Tinos in preparation for the Games of 1896. For those Games, Tiniot sculptors were the new Myrons, populating the new capital of Greece with statues commemorating the ancient games and celebrating those who made Greece a free nation.

Cage Bird by Reinhardt Skoracki

The "Migrations" Exhibition in late 2004 on Tinos will feature the work of Alberta sculptors Ray Arnatt, Isla Burns, Chu Honsun, Katie Ohe and Reinhard Skoracki. These sculptors were chosen for their contributions as productive and celebrated artists and teachers whose work has left its mark across Alberta, Canada, and around the world. Three are members of the Royal Canadian Art Academy (Ray Arnatt, Isla Burns and Katie Ohe); all are representative of the multicultural make-up of Canada. Four were born, raised and educated outside Canada before they immigrated to Alberta: Ray Arnatt was born, raised, and educated in England; Isla Burns was born and raised in India; Chu Honsun was born, raised and educated in China; Reinhard Skoracki was born and raised in Germany. Dr. Katie Ohe was born and raised in Alberta. Each artist has his/her own individual style/approach to sculpture, even when they utilize the same material, as is steel for Katie Ohe and Isla Burns, bronze for Reinhardt Skoracki, mixed media/installation for Ray Arnatt, or stone for Chu Honsun.



The "Migrations" cultural exchange will continue in early 2005, with an exhibition in Calgary, Alberta, at The Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts. The exhibition will show the work of the five Canadians who exhibited on Tinos.