Goya:  The Disasters of War
and Los Caprichos

The Great Hall
January 26 - March 25, 2012

Organized and Circulated by the
National Gallery of Canada

Francisco Goya y Lucientes
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, from Los Caprichos, 1797-1798
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Photo © NGC

This exhibition features Francisco de Goya's famous print suites: Los Caprichos (1799) and The Disasters of War (1810-1820) which document the brutality of the Peninsular War and the atrocities that mankind inflicts upon itself. The Disasters of War is divided into three parts. The first illustrates the horrors of war and its effects; the second deals with famine and displacement as a consequence of war; and the last, through allegorical scenes, explores the trauma of the postwar period. Together these two bodies of work have come to be seen as the most influential graphic series in the history of Western art. This exhibition presents one of the most important artists of the nineteenth century whose social commentary embodied the anti-war, humanitarian commentary of the time and reflected similar political and social issues that we face in contemporary society.

Presenting Sponsor

Sponsors

Goya: Conversations on War & Peace

Sat Feb4
12-4:30pm
The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
32388 Veterans Way
&  Matsqui Centennial Auditorium

The Nature of War Today 
Keynote Speaker - Ernie Regehr

The Nature of Peace Today
Panelists - Dr. Victoria Marie, Dr. Saul Arbess

Conversation:  How do cultural practitioners explore  the issue of war and conflict?
Dr. Dorothy Barenscott, Artist Dick Averns

The Reach and the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) bring a Peace Symposium to Abbotsford that explores the nature of peace and the relationship between art and peace-making.  The symposium being is  held in conjunction with the exhibition GOYA: THE DISASTERS OF WAR AND LOS CAPRICHOS, Organized by the National Gallery of Canada.  This event begins at 12pm with a tour of the exhibition followed by the symposium sessions at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium adjacent to The Reach. The symposium is free of charge.  All are welcome to attend. RSVP kwahamaa@thereach.ca by January 27.

Films in February @ The Reach

In conjunction with Waterscapes: Reframed and  Goya: The Disasters of War and Los Caprichos, The Reach presents a series of  free film screenings on Thursday evenings in the month of February. RSVP to info@thereach.ca

Up the Yangtze
Thurs Feb 9 & 23 @ 7pm
Up the Yangtze directed by Yung Chang, is an award winning documentary that follows a luxury cruise boat down the Yangtze River. It looks at a young family (among over one million people who were displaced) whose lives are changed forever due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in history.

Goya's Ghosts
Thurs Feb 16 & Mar 1 @ 7pm
Goya's Ghosts, directed by two-time Academy Award winning director Milos Forman, and three-time Academy Award winning producer Saul Zaentz, Goya's Ghosts is a sweeping historical epic told through the eyes of celebrated Spanish painter Francisco Goya. Set against a backdrop of political turmoil at the end of the Spanish Inquisition and the start of the Napoleon's invasion of Spain, the film captures the essence and beauty of Goya's work, best known for its colorful portrayal of the royal court and its people, and grim depictions of the brutality of war and life in 18th century Spain.

Waterscapes:  Reframed
by Gu Xiong

The Great Hall
January 26 - March 25, 2012

Waterscapes, 2012, plastic and plaster

This exhibition focuses on the Yangzi River in China and the Fraser River in British Columbia. It addresses issues around hybrid culture and its relationship to place, migration, boundary and transformation in the 21st century. It examines global dialogues by bringing together social processes, mobility of place and cultural interaction to connect with migration, identity and memory. The two rivers are positioned as metaphors for hybrid identity and culture and are aligned with concepts of flux and transition as an effect of globalization. Gu Xiong combines visual arts practices with critical approaches to the ideas of 'place' and 'migrant' in cultural geography and postcolonial cultural studies. Waterscapes examines the role of the waterways - oceans, lakes and rivers - in shaping specific migration flows, including individual experiences of displacement, dispossession and adaptation.

Our Communities Our Stories
Policing with Pride
Abbotsford and Matsqui Police History

The Great Hall
January 26-March 25, 2012

Matsqui Police, 1955