Artworks by Oski Awoyo, Esther Calixte-Bea, Marie-Hélène Cauvin, Natacha Clitandre, Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux, Stanley Février, Laurena Finéus, Frantz Patrick Henry, Manuel Mathieu, Esery Mondesir, Nou (Stéphane Martelly), Michaëlle Sergile, Carl-Philippe Simonise, Pascal Smarth and Gelsy Verna.
Curator: Dominique Fontaine
In collaboration with Galerie Hugues Charbonneau
ARTWORKS EXHIBITED AT GALERIE HUGUES CHARBONNEAU:
Imaginaires souverains brings together the works of fifteen Quebec and Canadian artists of Haitian heritage. The exhibition will be hosted simultaneously in two sites: at Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto and at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau.
Although the presence of the Haitian population in Quebec and Canada dates back to the 1950s, we do not have statistics on the activity of visual artists from Haiti within museums or other institutions. Of course, community and parallel organizations have held cultural and artistic events since the 1970s, having as their object visual arts. Imaginaires souverains therefore is not the first and will certainly not be the last exhibition bringing together visual artists of Haitian origin.
We have indeed witnessed, over the last three years, a new phenomenon: established institutions – museums, galleries, large private collections – that have defined for a long time what is “official” and celebrated by the cultural establishment, now exhibit and collect the works of so-called artists from cultural diversity. However, we want this exhibition to be different, by the renewed gaze it offers on the effervescence and the creativity of artists who share an Haitian origin.
What we observe in the artists brought together in this exhibition is an imagination that resists, destabilizes and transforms the status of the art world by infusing it with a daring energy. We are seeing the definition of a living, rich and fragmented practice, reflecting the creative dynamism and the significant evolution of contemporary art here, in Montreal, and elsewhere in Canada. This is a mark of artistic sovereignty – that is, the free definition and articulation by the artist of her or his expression, regardless of the intensity of external constraints.
Just like the œuvres of Quebec writers of Haitian origin, the work of this new generation of visual artists – who were raised or were born here – imprints a unique signature on the Quebec artistic field. Imaginaires souverains was not conceptualized as a thematic exhibition. It focuses on presenting and saluting the vitality of the local artistic scene, with its Haitian and Quebec influences. This exhibition thus welcomes, without any hierarchy, all art practices and visual manifestations, from painting to sculpture, from drawing to video and photography.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The exhibition takes place at Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto and at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau.
Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto
Exhibition from November 17, 2022 → January 15, 2023.
Opening Thursday November 17, 2022 – 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
2550 Ontario Street East
Galerie Hugues Charbonneau
Exhibition from November 17, 2022 → January 14, 2023.
Opening Thursday November 17, 2022 – 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
372 Sainte-Catherine Street West, Space 508
