Old Quebec: PASSAGES INSOLITES
The second week in October I got on a train and made my first long trek across Canada to Quebec City. My brother Cameron and sister-in-law Katelyn met me in Montreal and we traveled the rest of the distance together! We spent the next few days together, catching up, and doing some solid sibling bonding. It will be another 10 months before we see each other again. However, this post is not about those shenanigans which I will write about in another installment after.
The two main reasons I wanted to go to Quebec were for the 9th Edition of PASSAGES INSOLITES, a free art circuit of 16 artworks, and Mosaïcultures Québec 2022, an exhibition tribute to the life that vibrates on our planet. This first post will focus on the PASSAGES INSOLITES.
I spent two days mixing in the pieces. The first day was stunning and the second was not as nice. Although it was raining and the weather was less than favorable it was not about to stop me from exploring Old Quebec on a scavenger hunt and discovering each of these 16 pieces. This post will mention many but not all of the public art installations with a general description, my reaction, and overall thoughts. (I didn’t explore in order but I don’t think there is a right or wrong way).
https://passagesinsolites.com/en/parcours/quebec-2022/
Museum of Bad Art 2022, MOBA (Boston, États-Unis)
Although I was not able to go into the Museum it is a place that I would go back and revisit to explore. It is said to feature a collection, unlike anything the world has ever seen. Art that is “too bad to be ignored”. It is free to enter and open every day from 10 am to 5 pm.
Still Not My Story, 2022, by Vincent Olinet (Paris, France)
This was by far my favorite piece that I saw in Quebec City. It is a four-poster bed with ornate canopy coverings, elaborate pastel sheets, and pillows floating on the surface of Bassin Louise. A testament to the symbol of status and nobility from the Renaissance. I felt like I was looking into a fairytale! Believe me, if it had only been a little warmer I would have been so tempted to swim out. Can you imagine what that would be like? Just taking a quick cat nap on a floating bed? Putting that on the bucket list. It even had a chandelier hanging with LIGHTS on the inside. M i n d - b l o w n
Forbidden Games, 2022, by Eva Clouard (Paris, France)
When I first noticed this piece it was integrated so well into the landscape I thought it was always meant to be there. But this wooden playground was not like the traditional one you had as a kid. Places in the greenspaces around the Place Jean-Pelletier train station Forbidden Games has places traditional games around tree trunks creating ironic stories in each installment. The statement discusses the “ironic commentary on the loss of enjoyment and plays that adulthood brings.” It made me think not only of playing with these as a kid but also of the amount of time I spent as a child just enjoying nature. Being outside and getting fresh air. My mom probably won’t own up to it but she used to make my brothers and I go outside and lock the door so that we would spend all day exploring in the backyard woods getting plenty of fresh air. I am incredibly grateful for this because some of my best childhood memories (although my recollection is crap, Cameron is the one with a stellar memory) are from these adventures.
Territories 2.0, 2021, Olivier Roberge (Montréal, Québec)
This one surprised me. I did not realize until walking through it that it was an art piece part of the art crawl. It is a starry cube the inside encloses dioramas depicting miniature landscapes that have been drastically transformed by human intervention and climate change. It even had little peepholes that you usually see on doors spread throughout as a little surprise.
ARENA, 2017, Benoît Maubrey (Berlin, Allemagne)
First presented at the Grand Théâtre de Québec as part of PASSAGES INSOLITES 2021 it was reconfigured and adapted for this new setting. ARENA, is mobile, interactive, and an electroacoustic sculpture. This piece is ingenious and creates its own performance spaces. Using recycled speakers, it is completely open to audience participation. I loved seeing both old and new connections intergenerationally. I wish that Bluetooth and plug-in had been working when we were there but it was still great getting to engage with the different sections. We even got Kaleigh to go up the steps! You could have played music, done a spontaneous dance performance with music through the speakers, and finished a phone call publicly out loud; it inspired creativity in the entire community.
Hope 2.0, 2022, Sébastien Giguère (Quebec City, Quebec)
At the end of a wharf right after Still Not My Story by Vincent Olinet is an oversized replica of a BBQ lighter. It stands tall and you can see the craftsmanship when you get up close to the piece. It makes you wonder why at the end of the wharf, why a lighter? It is supposed to be a beacon of hope light a lighthouse for the public to follow. On the opposite spectrum, it is a mass-produced item created from plastic. Maybe it's both, a beacon of hope and a call to rekindle the flame for change.
An Adaptive Moment, 2021, Nicole Banowetz (Denver Colorado)
If you did not look up I think most people would have missed this piece. It reminds you to be aware of your surroundings because you might just be missing something special. This strange inflatable installation reminded me of a creepy crawler. It sprawls the facade of a building with a surreal shape. The statement next to it states that it reflects and magnifies the anatomical details of the rotifers. Which are microscopic creatures that can dry out and be swept up by the wind to escape their predators. When they travel the rotifers absorb the DNA of nearby species and recombine it with their own. Makes you think that if something like this existed on a large scale with such adaptability and resilience what would humanity do?
Myth and Evidence, 2017, Mathieu Valade (Chicoutimi, Québec)
I just want to say after seeing this I hope everyone believes that unicorns are real. Scotland knows it, its national animal is a Unicorn. It's time we all got on board. Inside a frosted glass display case hints at this legendary creature; the unicorn. At first, we didn’t know if it was supposed to be steamy inside the case because it was raining out, and could have been the effects of the weather. Nope, we then learned it was intended that way. Contained in this box and exposed in lighting so that you can still see what it creates a juxtaposition. It is caged and imprisoned in this tight space but still leaves an impression of the mystical and unexplainable.
#hopeandhealingcanada (2021-2022), Tracey-Mae Chambers (Hamilton, Ontario)
I honestly did not know much about this one. My first thought was spider webs which were not far off. This piece is an evocative fiber-arts installation recalling spider webs and flourishing plant life stretching out in a monumental canopy above the De la Place pedestrian street. It's part of the artist's #HopeAndHealingCanada project, which has traveled the length and breadth of North America.
“This installation in red yarn is part of a healing process in response to evidence of unmarked graves found on the sites of Canadian residential schools. Tracey-Mae Chambers knits and weaves connections that engender a healing dialogue around reconciliation and decolonization.”
“Heritage note: Fibre arts and dream catchers are ancestral Indigenous practices handed down over generations. Together, they rekindle the living memory of Indigenous and settler communities in Place Royale, a trading centre for First Nations and colonists in New France.”
The exhibition ran from June to October 2022. Some pieces were obvious, others less noticeable. The public art in each space made an impact on its audience that much was obvious. Even after months of weathering it still held. Both accessible and available it allowed the viewer to make a choice; do I engage or do I continue? I think that's part of the beauty of it. You make the decision. It's there for your taking. Exposed to the same environment you are.
*** Thank you for reading! Look out for the next two installments Mosaïcultures Québec and sibling adventures! ***
