The curators for the 7^th edition of La Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA) came together across Nations and territories to create a series of exhibitions with works by more than 60 artists. Our overarching theme of Creation Stories guided us and subthemes were identified for each participating venue. We felt the sub-theme that best fit EXPRESSION was Supernatural.

Beyond scientific understanding and the laws of nature, supernatural storytelling lies. Stories across our diverse communities relay ways of creation and belief systems that inform our cultural practices and ultimately, our identities. Familiar characters, such as the Trickster, appear in many communities offering us guidance and ways of challenging societal norms. Teachable moments are embedded in many of these stories, to pass along valuable lessons to future generations. And perhaps, the most common and important stories are those of creation. The stories of where we come from as Nations is what makes us Indigenous Peoples and it is within these stories that we find our beliefs, voices, and powers.

The artworks featured in EXPRESSION are, each in their own right, strong but when put together become significantly impactful and thought-provoking. Each artist brought with them striking compilations in a variety of media including installation, sculpture, painting, drawing, and video work. The mere size of many of the works are otherworldly, not to mention their content. We ask audience members to allow yourselves to be embraced by the supernatural.

The Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA) would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts, the Quebec government (Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Fonds d’investissement pour le rayonnement de la Métropole, Secrétariat des affaires Autochtones), the Conseil des arts de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, its presentation partners and its media partners.

Launched in 2012, the Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA) is a Montreal-based non-profit organization (registered in 2016) that promotes the work of Indigenous artists. The biennial is held every two years, in multiple venues, with each iteration focusing on a specific theme. The event is aimed at an ever-growing audience—Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike—and features both emerging and established artists. Our mission is to promote Indigenous art and to sensitize and educate the public on the cultural issues of the First Nations.

Opening Saturday, June 8, 2024
1 pm to 5 pm

In the presence of Samuel Ojeda and the RedTail Spirit Singer

The Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA), Video of the exhibition Creation stories : Surnatural presented at EXPRESSION, 6 min 20 s. © Félix Bouchard

The Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA), Video of the exhibition Creation stories : Surnatural presented at EXPRESSION, 29 min 15 s. © NousTV

Vernissage le vendredi 10 mai 2024 à 17 h

Comme le veut la tradition, les étudiant·e·s du programme d’Arts visuels et médiatiques du Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe présentent le fruit de leur formation dans une exposition de groupe qui se tient à EXPRESSION, Centre d’exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe. Intitulée Échos chromatiques, l’exposition fera découvrir les œuvres de 33 étudiant·e·s du 10 au 19 mai.

En présence d’invités protocolaires et du grand public, des prix seront remis aux finissant·e·s les plus méritant·e·s lors de la soirée d’ouverture le vendredi 10 mai à 17h.

Alors que, tout au cours de leur formation collégiale, les étudiant·e·s ont souvent été porté·e·s par les consignes et les contraintes thématiques dans la réalisation de projets artistiques, ce sont des œuvres plus personnelles et longuement travaillées qu’offre cette exposition. Dans leur texte de présentation, le groupe affirme son désir d’authenticité : « Échos chromatiques regroupe les explorations d’une cohorte diversifiée et enthousiaste, à travers lesquelles se répondent des récits uniques, des questionnements impromptus, et où chacune des nuances évoque un investissement profond et ressenti »

Inédites, les œuvres présentées attestent du cheminement des étudiant·e·s en une variété de techniques (dessin, peinture, sculpture, installation, photographie, vidéo, animation 3D…) explorées au cours de leur formation ou développées pour ce projet spécifique avec la volonté d’un aboutissement plus marqué.

Cette exposition à la palette audacieuse met en lumière le travail acharné des étudiant·e·s qui vous convient à : « plonger dans un monde où les pigments s’entrelacent pour narrer des histoires inédites, où chaque teinte résonne comme une note inattendue dans une grande symphonie créative. »

Nous vous attendons en grand nombre !

Opening on Saturday, June 29, 2024
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Next activity : Du bleu sur les doigts. Atelier-discussion autour de l’indigo et des teintures végétales dans le cadre de l’exposition Relations végétales au Jardin

French version available

Relations végétales highlights plants gift for creating connections: among themselves, with us, and between us. Following a first foray in 2021, Annie France Leclerc returns to Jardin Daniel A. Séguin to create an installation in several parts, produced from dye plants gathered and dried there, such as sulphur cosmos, goldenrod, broom sorghum, staghorn sumac, and Japanese indigo. Each makes its presence felt both on sheets of dyed and draped fabric on which the colourful essences of several species are displayed side by side, and in a dye-plant garden created by Leclerc that occupies part of the green roof and the atrium of the Pavillon d’accueil.

By encouraging people to venture into the garden – to wander its inviting paths, to rest on the furnishings embodying nearby plants – Leclerc presents an alternative to the conventional codes that would keep a distance between artwork and visitors. At the same time, she reaffirms the role human beings must play within their ecosystem; although the climate emergency may lead us to believe that nature would be better off without human presence, she asserts that our actions can not only be harmonious, but are necessary. Who takes care of the garden if not the gardener?

What emerges from this project are spaces of kinship, shaped over time and in togetherness, where we can take a moment to engage in reflection and come into relation with the social beings that are plants. Encounters with visitors will also take place during the exhibition so that Leclerc can pass on her knowledge about plant dyes, have conversations, and simply share a moment with fellow nature lovers.

– Ariel Rondeau

Presented by EXPRESSION, the exhibition Relations végétales takes place at Jardin Daniel A. Séguin and will evolve over two seasons, simultaneously with its environment, and thanks to all of the actions taken – some intentional, some instinctive, some simply blown by the wind.

Annie France Leclerc, video of the exhibition Relations végétales presented at EXPRESSION, 4 min 25 s. © Félix Bouchard

Une résidence de François Mathieu, à Saint-Hyacinthe, à l’église Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire
Architectures éphémères - Les bancs (été 2024)

Pendant l’été 2024, EXPRESSION invite, en collaboration avec la Ville de Saint-Hyacinthe, l’artiste François Mathieu à réaliser une résidence à l’intérieur de l’église Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire. Pendant cette résidence, constituée de quatre séjours répartis au cours de l’été, l’artiste compte modifier l’emplacement des bancs dans la nef de l’église, suggérant en quelque sorte, par leur redéploiement dans l’espace, que ces bancs s’envolent, que ces bancs seront appelés à quitter ce lieu désacralisé en voie de requalification. Particulièrement concerné par le contexte actuel, où des églises, couvents et monastères cessent leurs activités, l’artiste François Mathieu nous propose sa vision des choses en s’imprégnant de ce vaste espace qui impose le respect, indépendamment de nos croyances.

Cette résidence précède une série d’activités qui se tiendra à Saint-Hyacinthe à l’automne 2024 sous l’appellation : Du cultuel au culturel. Cette réflexion portée par des organismes maskoutains consiste à réfléchir l’avenir, non seulement de nos bâtiments, mais aussi, de nos croyances et pratiques qui prennent aujourd’hui des formes diverses.

À la suite de cette résidence, François Mathieu présentera une exposition qui se tiendra en deux lieux : à EXPRESSION, à l’étage du Marché public, du 28 septembre au 22 décembre 2024; et à l’église Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire, durant cinq fins de semaine, au cours de l’automne, du vendredi au dimanche.

L’artiste remercie le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec pour son soutien financier.

Behind the scenes of François Mathieu’s residence at Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church, 3 min 48 s., © Félix Bouchard

An exhibition presented at EXPRESSION, Centre d’exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe from September 28 to December 22, 2024.

Presented as part of the activities Du cultuel au culturel (From Worship to Culture)

Architectures éphémères – Les bancs (Ephemeral Architectures – The Pews) is a major project created by the artist François Mathieu, in close collaboration with EXPRESSION, Centre d’exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe. The project has unfolded in two time frames: a four-week residency in the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church, during summer 2024; and, as a result of the residency, the presentation of an exhibition at two sites in fall 2024. In this context, Mathieu’s mandate is to make use of church pews, including several transported to the second floor of the market, at EXPRESSION.

Aware of the rich symbolic stakes involved in the project, Mathieu and EXPRESSION wish to make a significant gesture before the church begins its conversion into the Musée d’art et société. By boldly repositioning the pews in the church’s nave, and by transforming some of them at EXPRESSION, Mathieu brings to light the historic transition from worship to culture that part of the Québec religious built heritage is undergoing.

— 

At the church, it seems that the pews have been detached from the floor and taken flight, somehow propelled by a crowbar that Mathieu has wielded. At EXPRESSION, their transformation opens up other avenues for appreciation and reflection. Mathieu’s tower exhibited at EXPRESSION is not without recalling the Soviet artist and sculptor Vladimir Tatlin’s tower and also his motto, “Real materials in real space,” as if he wanted to affirm the materiality of things – an idea that might also be closely linked to art and spirituality. More discreetly, the sphere, Mathieu’s talisman form, also finds its place in this project, both at the church and at EXPRESSION; in his studio, he transformed pews into spheres using an ingenious machine that he invented.

With the concepts that traverse both of his installation projects – weight, elevation, ephemerality, and the sphere – Mathieu sets us on the path to metaphysical reflection about the materiality of objects with a strong symbolic value. Through his approach, he underlines their importance as triggers – that is, as true (primary) objects of fascination, highlighting their capacity to arouse emotions and thoughts that vary in different eras and according to different belief systems. In short, Mathieu invites us to contemplate the coexistence of the timeless and the ephemeral, thanks to wooden furniture that is charged with meaning. On this subject, Mathieu adds, very rightly, “Seeking meaning through materials is, in a way, a definition of art.”

Marcel Blouin
EXPRESSION, Centre d’exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe

François Mathieu thanks the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for its support for the project Architectures éphémères – Les bancs.

The exhibition Architectures éphémères - Les bancs by artist François Mathieu is presented in two locations:

At EXPRESSION, during regular hours

At Église Notre-Dame-Du-Rosaire, on the following dates:

Friday to Sunday - noon to 5 p.m.

– October 4 to 6, 2024
– October 18 to 20, 2024
– November 1 to 3, 2024

Visit the exhibition in the presence of the artist on Sundays in November, noon to 5 p.m.:

– November 3, 2024
– 10 novembre 2024
– 24 novembre 2024

Video of the exhibitions Architectures éphémères - Les bancs from artist François Mathieu and Chemin de croix presented at EXPRESSION, 6 min 39 s. © Félix Bouchard

Behind the scenes of François Mathieu’s residence at Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church, 3 min 48 s., © Félix Bouchard

Opening during the Journées de la culture
Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 2:30 PM

Visitors to the exhibition Chemin de croix (Way of the Cross) will (re)discover (in a different way) the fundaments of the fourteen stations that are generally found around churches’ naves. Traditionally, the Way (or Stations) of the Cross is an invitation to meditate on the Passion of Christ after He was sentenced to crucifixion by the Roman prefect Pontius Pilates following his trial. Beyond these historical considerations, the Way of the Cross offers a spiritual journey, introspection, and reflection on life, suffering, death, and loss.

In our search for a strong and highly visible symbol of Christianity, we wanted to focus on a single object; we chose the cross, making it an object for reflection that goes beyond the Way of the Cross. In this exhibition with fourteen stations, we therefore explore a symbol with great power in Québec society. Redolent with meaning, throughout the ages the cross has appeared in a variety of forms and materials, nailed to walls both public and private. A distinctive sign of Christianity, it has been the religion’s primary emblem since the fourth century.

Following the example of the artist François Mathieu, who uses pews and kneelers in his works, in this exhibition we express our feeling that it is important today to take an interest in objects that once had great meaning. This raises questions such as, What happens to our beliefs when they take diverse paths? What space must we allocate to symbols and objects such as the cross? Have we in fact become less spiritual, with all the changes we are going through?

Suzanne Saint-Amour and Anick Chandonnet
Exhibition curators

At Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church
Guided tour of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church, led by historian Suzanne Saint-Amour.

Sundays, October 20 and November 3, 2024
2 to 3 p.m.

Watch curator Suzanne Saint-Amour’s presentation of the exhibition from 4 min 20 s :

Video of the exhibitions Architectures éphémères - Les bancs from artist François Mathieu and Chemin de croix presented at EXPRESSION, 6 min 39 s. © Félix Bouchard