RAMSES MADINA Farmer's Requiem November 16, 2007-January 6, 2008 Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier ave. west Vernissage Thursday November 15th, 5:30-7:30 The transformation of the rural environment is central theme of the most recent work of Ramses Madina. Farmer's Requiem isolates iconic elements of the farming landscape and brings life to their imperceptibly slow decay. This evocative reflection on the failing architecture of the farmlands encourages us to consider the distance between our nostalgic notions of agriculture and its reality today. The exhibit involves photographic and cinematic work that study the effects of time on the symbolic structure of farming – the barn. The central piece of the exhibition is a 35mm film loop created using long exposures captured in intervals along with calculated manual camera movements. This timelapse technique manipulates the passage of time to create movement and draw the viewers focus to its effects on the farming structures. The images for the film were later complimented by music and the fading considerations of Victor McGregor, an elderly farmer reflecting on a life of farming shortly before his death. The photographic works presented where created using a 4x5 view camera. Captured in the moments before their collapse, removal or destruction these photos become ghostly memorials to vanishing way of life.    Farmer's Requiem was filmed and photographed over a period of three summers beginning in the summer of 2002.  The process was unique and involved labour intensive shots filmed using a specially modified Bell & Howell 2709 motion picture film camera, along with a 4x5 view camera.  The 2709 was designed and constructed during in the 1920's, the same era as many of the barns pictured in the exhibit, creating a nostalgic echo of the theme in the process of creation. From capturing images on film, and printing the 4x5 negatives in a traditional darkroom on silver gelatin fiber paper, to the tactile process of picture and sound editing the motion picture film on a 35mm flatbed created an intimate relationship with the images and in many ways the era they emerged from. Images that not only symbolize the loss of tradition, livelihood, and a disappearing cultural landscape, but also the shift from agriculture to agribusiness, from the farmers market to the supermarket, and our increasing disconnection with what we eat, how our food is produced and sold, and a disappearing sense of community. Ryan Stec Media Arts Curator   About the Artist Born in London, and raised in rural southwestern Ontario, Ramses Madina relocated to Ottawa where he graduated with a degree in english literature, and has since been working as an artist within the mediums of photography and film. The film portion of Farmers Requiem had its world premiere on September 12, 2007 at The Toronto International Film Festival. Acknowledgments This show was made possible by generous support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, The City of Ottawa, The Independent Filmakers Cooperative of Ottawa, Technicolor Creative Services Montreal, and Kodak Motion Picture Film. The artist expresses his appreciation for the help and encouragement of Julie DuPont, and Signe Jeppesen, Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery.