Fall of the USSR, Gulf War, coup d’état in Haiti, racial clashes in the United States: 1991, a pivotal year for the world, and Montreal was no exception. “This is also the moment when the Bloc Québécois is born and therefore when debates on sovereignty resurface,” recalls Rito Joseph, commissioner of the exhibition Black Summer ’91presented at the Darling Foundry, but also an activist, speaker, researcher and guide on black history.
Who is for, who is against sovereignty? What role did ethnic groups and communities play in Quebec sovereignty at the time? More than three decades ago, questions about identity and linguistics were legion. “In this hubbub, conversations appear around neo-Nazi movements, the KKK, skinheads,” he emphasizes.
There is also talk of police brutality and institutional racism. “I say that 1991 is a pivotal year because we must not forget that here, four black men died during altercations with the police that year,” notes Mr. Joseph. During the summer of 1991, the residents of Parc-Extension, Saint-Michel, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Little Burgundy and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce revolted against the discrimination and crimes suffered by them. Montreal’s Afro-descendant populations.
We lose someone, but we can still console ourselves for being who we are, we can still console ourselves for doing what we do
Honor memory, perpetuate joy
The exhibition highlights in a documentary manner the archives of these events, which lasted 26 days in the heart of the metropolis, as well as life and culture in general, notably through works by Patrick F. Henry, Shaya Ishaq , Aaron Jones, Michaëlle Sergile and Carl-Philippe Simonise.
“We opted for a diasporic approach where the work of the artists not only relates the events of 1991, like Carl-Philippe, who is interested in the burial of Marcellus François in one of his paintings, but also honors the matriarchy: because when we talk about the death of black men, we are talking about women who lose a husband, a son, a brother, a cousin, etc. “, said Rito Joseph, supported on the occasion of Black Summer ’91 by radio host and entrepreneur Freddy Lloyd.
Since the subject discussed at the Darling Foundry is heavy, it was also essential to celebrate life. “We lose someone, but we can still console ourselves for being who we are, we can still console ourselves for doing what we do,” explains the commissioner. “We then wanted to compare a not-so-distant past to the colonial era,” he adds. The year 1991 is, in fact, the canvas which relates the presence of black people in Quebec over time, from the 1600s to the 20th century.e century.
The taxi – a vehicle proudly sits in the middle of the large exhibition hall – is also a common thread of Black Summer ’91. “Taxi drivers, in a way, are like porters at the beginning of the 20th centurye century, that is to say, they are the ones that allow us to move around,” says Rito Joseph. This vehicle is also a way for him to pay tribute to his father, a taxi driver in the 1980s and 1990s, and therefore a privileged witness to the events of the summer of 1991, and to this specific demographic of Haitian taxi drivers. “It’s a really interesting culture, it’s a culture of expansion, it’s a culture of migration,” he emphasizes.
In 1991, Robert Bourassa had already refused to recognize systemic racism… So, it’s interesting to see how we go around and almost always come back to square one.
Between yesterday and today
Toronto artist Aaron Jones presents collages that mix newspaper clippings from the summer of 1991 and the aesthetic of the X-Men, which experienced a resurgence during this period, alongside the quest for acceptance of people of African descent in the world and the rise of civil rights movements. “ X-Menit’s like a war between the excluded themselves, and that’s exactly what the media and governments have wanted us to believe for a long time,” he says.
According to him, no matter who rules space, no matter the era, people are the problem. “And these are the people who are fighting,” he mentions.
Have things changed over the past thirty years? “It seems so, but actually, not so much. These are the same subjects that are still on the table,” replies Rito Joseph. For him, there have been “some small advances”, but not enough for the change to be rapid. “In 1991, Robert Bourassa had already refused to recognize systemic racism… So, it’s interesting to see how we go around and that we almost always come back to square one,” notes the commissioner.
Black Summer ’91 is also a way for him to reflect these morals and values that society has preserved since the colonial era. And then to demand changes. “It is necessary to return to what happened in 1991 and to continue the demand for our community, our culture,” concludes the commissioner.