Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

This is Ev’s latest sculptural work… Common Ground, a hand-built ceramic piece (385mm x 220mm x 360mm, base 330mm x 207mm x 105mm) with a silver cold finish and parts of an antique meat grinder, mounted on a stained wooden base/bed.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canada Post today released the commemorative stamp (designed by Circle) featuring the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, one month before the building opens. The museum is located near the Forks National Historic Site in downtown Winnipeg, a meeting place dating back thousands of years at the junction of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. It is the first national museum to be built since 1967, the first ever to be located outside of the National Capital Region, and the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration, and future of human rights.

The ceremonial stamp unveiling took place at the west base of the Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge on Mahatma Gandhi Way, and was covered by various local and national media outlets (e.g. here, here, here, and here).

“Canada Post’s stamps tell stories of our history, our heritage and our Canadian identity. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will invite the world to reflect on human rights struggles – both inspiring and tragic – and encourage action for a better future. This stamp commemorates a symbol of our global human rights aspirations, told through a uniquely Canadian lens,” says Deepak Chopra, President and CEO, Canada Post.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights permanent rate stamp measures 40 mm x 40 mm and is available in booklets of 10 stamps. An Official First Day Cover has also been issued, measuring 191 mm x 113 mm and cancelled in Winnipeg. The stamps can be purchased at any Canadian Post Office or ordered here.

Stamp design direction : Alain Leduc, Canada Post (Ottawa)
Creative direction : Robert L. Peters, Circle Design Incorporated
Graphic design : Adrian Shum, Circle Design Incorporated
Photography : Mike Grandmaison
Printing : Lowe-Martin Group (Ottawa)

Images above : The stamp, booklet, and official first day cover; Adrian Shum and Robert L. Peters at the unveiling ceremony.

—Marshall McLuhan 

Father’s Day.

On this day, it seems that “society” has deemed it appropriate to single out and honour the fathers among us. I like that. I think these fine men often go without the recognition due them (not all of them, mind you, some are truly bastards and without a doubt deserve nothing less than to be ignored and forgotten as soon as possible).

I was very lucky, in a way. Although I was never able to experience “being” a father myself, I had the benefit of a truly fine father, and I am eternally thankful for this fact. My father was loving (though strict), patient (to a point), and he was undoubtedly the most “consistent” person I have ever known.

Thanks Dad!

The photo above is of my pacifist Dad, John Jacob Peters, working as a lumberjack in a labour camp in British Columbia, Canada, in 1943… performing alternative service as a Conscientious Objector.

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

I feel deeply moved and honoured to have been adopted yesterday as an Anishinabe brother by Alma Kakikepinace, an elder and Eagle Clan Mother, at a fireside 60th birthday celebration attended by several dozen close friends and family members. Alma smudged with sweetgrass, performed drum-songs, and presented me with an eagle feather as a symbolic rite of passage and mark of distinction— I pray that I prove to be worthy of the values inherent with the receipt of this honour— honesty, truth, strength, courage, wisdom, power, and freedom.

Miigwetch, miigwetch… (photos by Ian McCausland).

—Leonard Cohen (thanks to Linda Bloomfield for the quotable)

Gimli, Manitoba

Today we delivered one of Ev’s sculptures to Mermaid’s Kiss Gallery in the lakeside resort town of Gimli—the first time this work is on exhibit in a gallery, and Ev’s first piece in this attractive venue. Drop by and have a look if you’re in the area…

It started on a Thursday…
hand-built clay figure, with fired glazes and partial cold finish; assemblage with metal findings on stained wooden base (old-growth fir);
380mm x 275mm x 380mm.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil…

Winnipeg, Canada

Maxim/Dictum, the manifesto we developed at CIRCLE several decades ago (to reflect “our collective attitude to life, work, and play”) is now available in the form of a poster. We’ve donated this special edition to the GDC Foundation, with proceeds helping to build a sustainable fund for Canadian designers in need, and to provide scholarships and professional grants in our field.

Like it? Buy it online, here.

(Click on image for higher resolution. Feel free to use or share).

“Thought of the day” from Karen Ng-Hem, a young design intern from Toronto that we took in at CIRCLE back in 2001.