It was in his house in Saint-Hilaire, which he himself had built with his father, that the painter Paul-Émile Borduas lived the last moments of his family life with his wife, Gabrielle, and his two children. . And this is where two of the four public readings will be held which celebrate the 75th anniversary of the manifesto Overall refusal and which aim to refloat the Paul-Émile-Borduas house, since bought by the Saint-Hilaire Museum of Fine Arts. It was the actor Patrick Caux who took care of organizing these readings and the range of personalities who participated in them.
It must be said that Caux played Borduas in a short film shot last winter, precisely in this old house. This short film retraces the period when Borduas lost his job at the Furniture School because of his positions contrary to religious dogma and when his wife left him with the children, taking all the furniture.
Breeding ground for automation
“The Museum approached me to do these readings, but I said to myself: I’m not well-known enough, I’m not going to attract many people,” says Caux. It was then that he decided to draw up a list of personalities, ranging from Bruno Pelletier to Marc Labrèche via Dorothée Berryman, Isabelle Blais, Marcel Leboeuf, Marcel Sabourin and Pierre-Luc Brillant.
All of these participants are volunteers, and several live in Saint-Hilaire, explains Patrick Caux. “There are a plethora of artists who live here, each name more famous than the last,” he says.
Saint-Hilaire was also the breeding ground for many exchanges between the members of the group of automatists who signed the Overall refusal. Jean Paul Riopelle lived there for several years, before settling in France. And this is where Françoise Sullivan performed her famous choreography Dancing in the snowin front of the camera of Jean Paul Riopelle, whom she had come to visit.
It is in the Museum of Fine Arts of Saint-Hilaire that the two afternoon readings will take place, on September 23 and 24. “And what is interesting is that there is currently an exhibition there called Overall mixedwhich features paintings by Marcel Barbeau, another signatory of Overall refusal. These are large, colorful works through which the readings of extracts from the manifesto will take place,” continues Patrick Caux, who points out that there are also works by Françoise Sullivan and Marcelle Ferron, as well as photographs by Marcel Perron.
They will all be different readings, with different people. It won’t be the same texts either.
“There is also the series Album 67, by Jean Paul Riopelle, in a related room. »
Then, at 4 p.m., other readings will be held, with other readers, at the Paul-Émile-Borduas house, not far from there. These will be accompanied by a cocktail.
“But they will all be different readings, with different people. It won’t be the same texts either,” says Caux.
Born in Saint-Hilaire, Paul-Émile Borduas lived there until his departure for New York, after signing the manifesto Overall refusal and the consequences it had on his life.
“Borduas’ wife was very religious. She was devout, says Patrick Caux. And the first weeks after signing the manifesto, the priest pointed the finger at Borduas, asked people not to talk to him, saying that his work was the work of the devil. Of course, this was a charge against the Catholic Church, among others. So they were more and more isolated. »
After living in New York, Borduas moved to Paris, where he died. “Originally, Borduas was buried in Père-Lachaise, because his father did not want to pay to repatriate the corpse,” says Patrick Caux. It is thanks to the efforts of André Michel [qui a fondé le musée de la Maison amérindienne de Saint-Hilaire], that Borduas’ remains were finally repatriated and buried in the Saint-Hilaire cemetery. It does not take long. It hasn’t even been twenty years. »