The exhibition “Born in Czechoslovakia”, in Gallery 17/18, is the first event of the Year celebrating 100th anniversary of Czechoslovak independence. Věra Koval Straus, born in Prague and based now in Ottawa, is exhibiting her oil paintings and watercolours. The exhibition includes the painting “Flower of my Mother”, painted in Canada in 1974, as reminiscence of Věra´s homeland and family in Czechoslovakia.

Dana Velan, born in Bratislava and based now in Montreal, is exhibiting her latest drawings from the series Nebulae and also a special work “Dress of Innocents”, made in 1995 as a memory of the story of her immigration to Canada in 1968.