A Maritime artist has turned his love of Canada’s Heritage Minutes into his own works of art, catching the eye of the creators of the iconic series that showcase great moments in Canadian history.
Christopher Hemsworth says he is such a big fan of the Heritage Minutes vignettes that his friend bought him the complete set of commercials on DVD.
Inspired by the commercials, Hemsworth set to work making posters that celebrate Heritage Minutes. He says a simple post turned his work into a full exhibit of commissioned work.
“I just put out on Twitter ‘this is a thing I'm going to start working on’ and Historica Canada caught wind of it, wrote me and said they loved it, everybody in the office loved it, would you considering doing a commissioned series?”
His exhibit is now on display at Argyle Fine Art in downtown Halifax.
“I think it’s a way a lot of us have learned about Canadian history,” says Adriana Afford of Argyle Fine Art.
Fellow Heritage Minute fans can see posters with a Maritime connection, including art that pays reflects on the Halifax Explosion and the Bluenose.
“The ones that people are quoting are like, the basketball one, I've heard ‘I'm going to need those baskets back’ a lot, and the Superman one,” says Afford.
Visitors to the gallery who are not familiar with Heritage Minutes say they are surprised by what they learned.
“I think what I'm really fascinated with is that people are coming in ‘oh, that's Canadian?’ There's still that sort of surprise that we have been so instrumental in so many facets of what's happening in the world,” says Afford.
Hemsworth says the project has helped him understand his love was for more than just Heritage Minutes.
“I have been deep into this project without realizing it was tied to a lot of Canadian pride that I have,” he says.
Hemsworth and Historica Canada are now in talks with Canada Post to turn the collection into stamps.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Marie Adsett
