The Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Today I am taking off a little time from painting to present a major project that is near and dear to not only Winnipeg residents , but indeed residents of the world. Sixty-nine architectural firms from 21 different countries and 5 continents, competed for the honour and privilege of creating this dream of one Israel Asper, and in the end, the award winning design shown above, by Antoine Predock of the USA, won out. It will be a truly magnificent structure with the crystalline Tower Of Hope rising 100 meters (395 ft.)into the sky.
It is anticipated that 250,000 people will visit the museum every year and I quote from the architect's statement,
"Our proposal for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights reinforces an optimistic
recollection of the history of the struggle for human rights, with an intention to uplift,
made legible in an architecture of dualities: light and shadow, ephemera and stone,
gravity and weightlessness, reflection and opacity, earth and sky. The massing, the
spaces within, and its materiality reinforce the Museum as an embodiment of a
universal humanitarian consciousness, necessarily a vessel of knowledge and history
charged with hope. Rooted in humanity, the architecture renders palpable the
communal and universal struggle for human rights."
It will be the largest human rights center in the world, an international forum for learning, reflection, dialogue and debate. It will change our modest prairie city forever, and will undoubtedly impact, in a positive manner, many others in far away places. We as Winnipeggers are very excited and extremely proud of the contribution this museum will make to the world. To see more, please visit www.canadianmuseumforhumanrights.com. There is a great video that explains far better than I ever could, what and how this all will be presented. It is really quite extraordinary with construction to begin quite soon.