In association with her current exhibition, The birds sing so sweetly- they don’t know there’s a war going on, artist Barb Hunt will be giving an artist talk on Camouflage: from nature to military fashion.

This illustrated presentation will trace relationships between art, camouflage patterns, nature, and war. The origin of camouflage was its early use by hunters, who hid by attaching foliage to themselves. Later, British soldiers in the Boer War dyed their white uniforms with substances from nature: earth, tea leaves, and the juice of berries. During the First World War, camouflage patterns were created by artists who were inspired by nature. More recently Canada used computers to make the first digital camouflage, by matching the mathematical value of a landscape’s colour components. Camouflage designs are also widespread in contemporary culture, prevalent in consumer goods and the media. Not only is the camouflaged soldier embedded in nature, but the prevalence of camouflage in civilian society indicates how war itself is ‘camouflaged’ among us.

This talk begins at 7:30pm, with doors opening at 7:15