An Indigenous artist wins the Grand Prix from the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) for the first time. Mohawk filmmaker Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel won an award for her short film Kanatenhs. When The Pine Needles Fallwhich looks back on the peacemaking role of Indigenous women during the Oka Crisis in 1990.
Nearly 34 years after this summer of deep tensions between the Mohawk community and the police of the majority, the 750 guests at the annual CAM gala stood up spontaneously to applaud the indigenous activist, winner of the greatest prize of the year in arts in Montreal. In the absence of a proper “reconciliation”, this gesture was welcomed as a balm to the heart by Ellen Gabriel.
“It’s an honor and a nice surprise,” reacted the Mohawk artist. “This is the start of a discussion around the fight for land,” she added.
The circus company Marguerite à bicyclette won the two other prizes of this annual CAM ceremony, that of the jury and that of the public. The Arts Council highlighted the original mission of this trio who traveled their show by bike over 1,500 kilometers in Montreal, the Laurentians and the Outaouais.
The eight artists or organizations finalists of this 38e edition of the CAM Grand Prix shared $90,000 in prizes. A significant sum in this period of crisis in the cultural sector, hit in turn by confinements due to the pandemic, the explosion in the cost of living and the shortage of staff. The dance community, in particular, has launched a cry from the heart in recent days demanding an increase in funding granted to the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec.
The Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, have committed to maintaining their support for the cultural sector which is going through financial turmoil. “The Conservatives were there before, and they slashed culture,” recalled the federal minister.
The Trudeau government is “very aware” of the fragility of the cultural environment, particularly in the performing arts and the media, argued Pascale St-Onge. She indicated that the federal budget, which will be tabled next week, will confirm Ottawa’s commitment to the cultural industries.
Good year and headwind
The year 2023 was a thriving year for the arts in Montreal despite the strong headwind, recalled those in the cultural sector.
The jury was won over by the activist and poetic vision of Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel’s 22-minute film, which shows the historical importance of the Oka pine forest for the Mohawk community of Kanesatake. The project to expand a golf course which would have required the moving of indigenous graves tore the municipality of Oka apart throughout the summer of 1990.
Ellen Gabriel’s film shows the Canadian soldiers storming the barricade erected by the Mohawk community. Exchanges of gunfire ring out under the appalled gaze of the Mohawk women, who have done everything to interpose themselves between the two armed camps.
“With a work crowning 45 years of activism and artistic practice, Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel resonates the forgotten, even hidden, voices of Mohawk women during the 1990 resistance through a new medium: documentary film,” writes the jury of the Grand Prix of the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
“Made in light and kindness, his short film Kanatenhs. When The Pine Needles Fallawarded at Présence indigenous and selected or rewarded in around thirty festivals in around ten countries, is intended to be a gesture of transmission towards new generations and other First Peoples, like a duty of memory carried by an irrepressible quest for truth », adds the jury.
Circus on bike
The three members of Marguerite à bicyclette impressed the jury and the public with the originality of their artistic approach.
“Driven by values of eco-responsibility, innovation and accessibility, the trio behind Marguerite à bicyclette brings the circus of the absurd up to date, revalorizing recycled materials in its costumes and sets while broadcasting its shows without generate greenhouse gases. With its unifying, playful and daring character, Marguerite à bicyclette influences the artists of today and tomorrow and inspires young people, both aware and amazed,” underlines the jury.
The criteria for designating the winning artist or organization of the 38e Grand Prize were the following: innovation, singularity and authenticity of the artistic approach; the desire to act, the desire to have an impact on the community; the originality and relevance of strategies to reach audiences in Montreal or mobilize the targeted community.
In addition to Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel and Marguerite à bicyclette, the finalists nominated for their artistic contribution in 2023 were the Massimadi Foundation, MAPP_MTL, Oktoecho, Plural (Contemporary Art Fair of the Association of Contemporary Art Galleries), Studio 303 and The crossing of the centuryby Alice Ronfard based on the work of Michel Tremblay.