The Baie-Saint-Paul Symposium, a unique event in Quebec that offers studio visits by artists in residence for an entire month, began its 42nd edition this weekend.e edition, under the sign of urgency. The creators were called upon to question the climate crisis, on the theme of Inhabiting the world, to highlight the role of art as a vector of change in terms of ecology.
“We always have the climate crisis explained to us through media or scientific discourse,” laments Anne Beauchemin, who is signing her last edition here as artistic director, after three years at the head of the event. “So we wanted to give the floor to the artists, so that they could give concrete form to abstract data, so that they could touch the imagination and inspire awareness.”
Moreover, “so many artists have been working in ecological art for decades,” continues the art historian and curator. “However, even today, they do not have enough visibility within institutions. And their practices are often confused with other movements, such as land artwhich aims to use elements of nature as materials.” At the symposium, artists instead explore the climate crisis with a variety of techniques, from painting to digital media, ceramics and photography.
Variety of shapes
The work of Elisabeth Perrault, in residence at the symposium, combines several disciplines. Inspired by the flowers seen in the painting Opheliaby John Everett Millais (1852), she plans to create ceramic bouquets that she will then hang in her studio. When we visited on Friday, we saw her paintings of animals on the wall, as well as textile sculptures, including a humanoid figure evoking Ophelia.
Other artists have taken their inspiration from scientific data about the environment. This is the case of Atsuhide Ito, a British artist of Japanese origin, who collected data on radiation between Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during a running trip between the two cities. In his studio, small motors will activate to the rhythm of the radiation frequency. They will move strings across the room, “to create a kind of spider web around which visitors can move,” he says.
“This is the first time I’ve designed an installation in residence over such a long period,” says the artist. “I want to install everything now, but I think I’m going to take my time, to adapt my work to the contact with people.”
The concept of the symposium is in fact new in Quebec and even rather rare in the world, says Anne Beauchemin: “From the visitors’ point of view, it’s quite exceptional to be able to move around in a building housing several artists’ studios, like ours, behind the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, to meet the creators. We create beautiful moments, especially since in Baie-Saint-Paul, visitors are very open.”
Pivotal period
Twelve Quebec, Canadian and foreign artists were selected for residency. While Elisabeth Perrault, François Quévillon and Adam Basanta are well-known in the visual arts community in Montreal, others have never been to Quebec and submitted their applications online. The organization received 234 applications this year, points out Anne Beauchemin, a record that, according to her, testifies to its vitality at a pivotal time.
The event is actually produced by the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul. And last year, the institution hired a new general director and chief curator, Gabrielle Bouchard. Formerly a project manager for Marc Séguin and head of the Giverny Capital collection, the Charlevoix native is back in her region to revitalize the institution, attract young audiences and present more contemporary artists in a city known for its commercial galleries and landscape painting.
At the cocktail reception for the official opening of the symposium on Friday, Mr.me Bouchard was pleased to have brought together a dozen artists, in addition to those in residence, who will create works in different locations around the city. The symposium is also organizing a photo exhibition of works by artists in residence around Baie-Saint-Paul, film screenings, notably with the International Festival of Films on Art, as well as conferences on the environment.
The 42e Baie-Saint-Paul Symposium, Inhabiting the world. Art and ecologycontinues until August 25.