A respected intellectual figure on Radio-Canada in the 1970s and 1980s, Abbé Marcel Brisebois, who also directed the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal for nearly 20 years, died on the night of Wednesday to Thursday at the 88 years old.
Entering religion before beginning studies in philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, then in art history, Marcel Brisebois is known among other things for having hosted the program Met. In this series of major interviews against a backdrop of spiritual reflections, he will have received the greatest Quebec and French thinkers of the time, from Edgar Morin to Hubert Reeves via Abbé Pierre.
During the same period, he taught philosophy in his hometown, at the Collège de Valleyfield, where he would later become general secretary. Then in 1985, he took the reins of the unloved Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC), which he tried somehow to promote internationally. Until his departure in 2004, he endeavored to democratize contemporary art. It is in this spirit that the museum, hitherto located in the Cité du Havre, moved near the Place des Arts in 1992.
Even today, the architectural decisions that were made when the new museum was built raise several questions. The building that houses the MAC is currently undergoing major work that requires the relocation of museum activities to Place Ville Marie until at least 2024.
During his long stint at the head of the MAC, Marcel Brisebois was described as a colorful character with a legendary outspokenness, which will attract him some criticism. Despite everything, the abbot has accumulated distinctions for his involvement in the cultural milieu: knight of the National Order of Quebec, member of the Order of Canada and even knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor.
The Diocese of Valleyfield, of which he was still a part, confirmed his death. Father Brisebois had been hospitalized for several days following a fall.