October 22 – November 17, 2011

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

Click here to view the University of Victoria’s Special Collection page dedicated to WWI.

A special exhibit of WWI memorabilia from the University of Victoria Archives in conjunction with the Canadian Opera Mary’s Wedding. Robert Holliston and guests present a guided tour of the Canadian opera Mary’s Wedding followed by a reception that was held at the McPherson Library for a special viewing of the exhibit featuring special items from UVic’s Special Collections was on display.

The opera itself is a love letter to the power of memory and innocence, and to a generation of Canadians who were caught in the crucible of the First World War. It explores the fleeting nature of time and the lasting power of love, evoking Prairie thunderstorms and ladies’ tea, and, as the innocence rides off to war, the horror of the battles of Ypres and Moreuil Wood, in which Canada came of age as a nation.

A link to Pacific Opera Victoria and their production of Mary’s Wedding can be found here.