A metallurgical plant for more than a century, then an industrial wasteland for a decade, the Darling Foundry celebrates this fall the twenty years of its third life, that of a visual arts centre. If the place has become a fine example of the safeguarding of built heritage, it is because it has established itself as an essential distributor of exhibitions and a precious lodging for workshops. There is life in there.
Conversion, or recycling, whatever the term, is second nature on Ottawa Street. The exhibition of 20e anniversary You wrap me and I contain you — the title is taken from a play by Jean Genet — is deeply marked by this as the ten works on offer, all from 2022, stem from practices carried by memory and traces.
“The appropriation, the passage, the metamorphosis, the transition, all of this was an axis that inspired the artists, comments curator Milly-Alexandra Dery. Even materially, through the many casts present in the exhibition, the idea of imprint [est présente]. »
In You wrap me and I contain, the quotes are anything but literal. It is undoubtedly necessary to have a fine knowledge of the history started in 2002 to understand the whole of the proposal. Expo for insiders only? No, however.
With its large room with a very high ceiling, the Darling Foundry has been the scene of many physical experiments. This time is no exception: there is more than one game of scale, in particular between the small self-portrait by Steve Giasson “in homage to Mike Bidlo”, an artist known for his replicas of famous works, and the immense black curtain placed by Christophe Barbeau, as a reminder of the one that has already divided the showroom of the neighboring restaurant.
You don’t need to have seen, even just a year ago, Sylvia Safdie’s collection of minerals and plants to appreciate a similar dialogue between the installation Ascension (Onions)by Sameer Farooq, and the 1888 building. The seven hundred onion-shaped ceramics produced by the Cape Breton artist invite contemplation and meditation on space, on volume, on care for devote to each element of a whole.
The physical experience is also sound, which the art center has proven time and time again. With was the verb, the Marion Lessard collective occupies the space with a series of words, delivered in alphabetical order by three loudspeakers. Between “to approach” and “to want”, the nomenclature flies over in an authoritarian and somewhat mysterious tone, like a sanctification, twenty years of cultural mediation. All these words, the most frequent in the archives of the Foundry, hover in the air like real ghosts.
The long history of the building punctuates the exhibition, between references to the industrial production of yesteryear or to today’s culture. The old furnace, still clearly visible in the heart of the great hall, inspired two artists, including naakita feldman-kiss, who meticulously and patiently collects dust and particles in the video The Density of Dust. The creation residencies are evoked by Lan Florence Yee in a textual work on light panels. By the complexity of their reading, the words reflect the challenge of an artistic career.
Patience and tenacity
While the Darling Foundry has just inaugurated its anniversary exhibition, Ottawa Street is, once again, a construction site. Caroline Andrieux, the soul of the place since always and even before, doesn’t seem to mind. Crossed in the showrooms, the founder and artistic director of the Darling Foundry is delighted and almost overjoyed to be there, celebrating her 20th birthday. It is true that many battles have been won, including the pedestrianization of Ottawa Street, despite appearances. The project for a permanent public place is sealed.
” [On y est arrivés] with patience and tenacity, she says, smiling. Honestly, the residences growing around have helped. It is the result of a combination of circumstances and [de nos] gentle pressure. »
You wrap me and I contain you is not alone in celebrating the longevity of the old foundry. If the tenth anniversary had been highlighted by a documentary video, which visitors can watch again at the end of the exhibition, the twentieth will be entitled to a major publication. With 250 pages and 350 images, the anthology with the oxymoron title ofShort-lived forever will look back on the years when Quartier éphémère, the organization founded by Caroline Andrieux had no fixed location. The book will be launched at the end of October, the same day the institution is due to announce a change in status for 745 Ottawa Street. “It’s a great gift,” says Caroline Andrieux, without wanting to say more.
From a factory to a wasteland, to a well-knit artistic niche, the Darling Foundry has proven that culture can help revitalize a neighbourhood, in this case the Cité du multimedia. The story is fascinating, in the eyes of Milly-Alexandra Dery. “The way it was born, in an industrial district, less residential than today, has something romantic about it. It’s a place of art built one brick at a time,” says the full-time curator.