These are the faces that we see in the news: the grim and stoic portraits of soldiers posed in their uniforms, faces set in a sombre pose. These are the photos that all soldiers stand for at the start of their service.
These are the faces that we see in the news: the grim and stoic portraits of soldiers posed in their uniforms, faces set in a sombre pose. These are the photos that all soldiers stand for at the start of their service. They're the same ones that are published when those soldiers lose their lives while on active duty.
Those lingering images are the last ones of the people who went to war and didn't return to be burned into the public memory. That is, until now.
The ultimate sacrifice has been translated into the ultimate tribute, all thanks to the transcendent power of art. Three local artists – Cindy Revell, Susan Abma and St. Albert's Shairl Honey – have dedicated the last several years of their lives to a comprehensive portrait exhibit of the 158 men and women who perished during the Afghanistan War.
It's an astounding display of devotion to the effort to change those last lingering images into ones filled with smiles, warmth and humanity.
It's called Project Heroes.
The human face of war
While none of the three main artists said that they had a personal connection to the soldiers, there is no denying that the work itself is intensely personal.
“We're not connected to the military at all,” Abma explained.
“We kept on hearing stories through the newspaper and media about another soldier died.'” Revell began. “When you have kids that age, it hits home. Every one of us has our own personal reason. Essentially, we just felt that this was a really tragic loss of young lives. We needed to find a way to make sure that they were remembered not for their deaths but for their lives.”
They first exhaustively tracked down and made contact with surviving family members. Oftentimes that process required them to use the full powers of their patience and persuasive abilities to convince the families to agree to participate in the project. They then sat down for in-depth interviews to learn more about each of the 158 men and women. Photo albums were opened and shared.
“They tell us great things about them, all sorts of fun stories,” Revell said.
Those interviews were then developed into full stories telling of each person's life. The artists created portraits and infused those uniformed soldiers with some personality, even smiling.
“We're doing something for the families. We're making sure that their soldiers are recognized, that the people connect to them, that people get to know them,” she continued.
“One of the first interviews that I did, the mother said, ‘I'm afraid that my son's name will never be spoken again.' They do feel that way. They want them to be remembered. By doing this, we're able to do something for them. It isn't just for the families. It's for Canada as a whole, for people to get a bigger picture of war, in particular this one.”
The horrors of war
In addition to the portraits, the artists – with the help of several other painters – created larger multi-panel collages that explore the issues of stress, suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a psychological affliction that affects many soldiers who return from the battlefield.
“We wanted a different flavour. PTSD and suicide are so complex. It was really important to get a well-rounded view of some of the aspects of them,” Revell explained.
Abma said the work was conducted with the utmost sensitivity to the subjects and the subject matter.
“We're not for or against anything. This is only about people. They happened to be soldiers. They're painted in their uniforms but really they're people. They were people who did amazing things. They had these fantastic lives. We're just trying to show that they have a story to tell and that it should be shared.”
Learning from the past
At the present, only about half of the portraits have been completed. Painting so many pictures with so much meaning infused into them is a time-consuming process that takes up to 40 hours for each portrait.
It's a labour of love, of course. There's no denying that. The trio has primarily self-funded the project. They estimate that the value of the work and materials to date is approximately $100,000, a figure that makes them somewhat eager to hear from members of the public or businesses that would consider offering some financial support to their venture. That's why they set up a non-profit organization: to make it easier for them to apply for grants.
That's mostly because they want this to be a legacy project too. In addition to the collection (scheduled to be fully complete by 2017) becoming a massive travelling exhibition, they also have designs to turn it into an educational program for schools to use as part of their social studies curricula.
Honey offered a story about an acquaintance who brought Project Heroes into his Grade 4 classroom last year to talk about it with his students.
“His students studied that for two or three days around Remembrance Day. That's what we want to happen, to have the schools to pick it up. That's why we brought the history into it.”
The website (found at www.projectheroes.ca) is a useful tool as well, allowing visitors the chance to offer personal anecdotes and comments about each of the soldiers if they choose.
It's not just about this one war either, Revell explained.
“We've been in all of these different wars. I think we forget where we've been and what we've done. By getting a little bit of history in there, it helps people understand where we've been leading up to this particular war. It's not heavy on the historical end of things but it does remind people of how this ties in over the past 100 years.”
“When people get to understand these guys, I think it helps them understand past veterans and soldiers better. They all have their uniqueness that needs to be celebrated.”
Heroes now and on the move
The exhibition will be on display at the Prince of Wales Armoury Heritage Centre, located at 10440 108 Avenue in Edmonton. It will remain on display until Dec. 31.
Starting in mid-January 2015, it will go on a 10-city tour across the country hopefully starting in British Columbia and stopping in Ottawa. The organizers intend to donate it to the Canadian War Museum or any other relevant facility that has the space to house it and the staff to maintain and manage it.
