Watercolour painting by Susan Tudin
By Nicole Findlay
As the deadline for the submission of final projects loomed, Susan Tudin vacillated between two options she’d been considering. Finally she decided to submit both – a website and a painting.
The project was the culmination of a third-year course Historical Representations, Tudin, a fourth year, history student was enrolled in. The subject matter was Canada’s experience of the Cold War.
When she began the course, Tudin describes her knowledge of the epoch as “relegated to spy fiction and James Bond movies.”
The course in part addressed the case of Igor Gorgouzenko, a Russian employee of the Soviet Embassy of Canada whose defection is attributed with officially launching the Cold War in this country. Through his work at the embassy, Gorgouzenko was alerted to the presence of sleeper agents attempting to infiltrate Canadian society and ferret out its governments secrets. He testified on behalf of Canada, his identity concealed underneath a white pillowcase.
“His hooded anonymity claimed him great notoriety in the 50s and 60’s, yet his bravery was officially ignored by Canada for almost sixty years,” said Tudin.
She decided to create her own historical representation to remedy this. Tudin researched the Globe and Mail archives for news pertaining to the case, and built a website, Igor Gorgouzenko in Historical News to trace how his dramatic story unfolded before an incredulous public.
Tudin also submitted a water colour painting that encapsulates the anxiety of the times. Uncertain figures, including one who is hidden by a hood, stand before the Diefenbunker. Also depicted are a gas mask, barren trees and a flash of light on the horizon. An air raid siren appears in the foreground. The colours are muted and somber – a bleak reminder of an era that created the Diefenbunker to protect officials against the fallout of a nuclear attack.
“I believe that being given a chance to create my own historical representation and to learn by doing was a highly effective and imaginative approach to this course,” said Tudin. “The critical assessment of public presentations informs our interpretation of history.”