This text is part of the special section Culture Montérégie
Spotlight on Montérégie organizations that work hard to bring life to their region and allow visual artists to promote culture.
Founded among others by Stanley February at the start of the 2010s, the artist-run center Agrégat has been in the midst of a renaissance since co-directors Ania Morochnik and Cécile Martin joined it in 2020. The latter explains that together they unite their forces to get things moving in Longueuil. “We want art to be in the public space, to decompartmentalize environments and create collaborations on a very rich and dynamic territory, with community engagement, citizen initiatives and a diversity of the population”, she says. .
Agrégat’s mission is therefore to provide exhibition space, but also production space for Montérégie artists. “The proximity of the metropolis means that artists move abroad to have more opportunities and visibility… This is a very important issue for us, as [l’agglomération de] Longueuil has nearly 450,000 inhabitants. However, there is a lack of meeting places, and artists are no exception,” notes Cécile Martin.
Another major challenge is the economic fragility of artists. “We want to give them economic opportunities, even if we don’t sell tickets, and respect their art, value their contribution to society by offering them better conditions,” says Cécile Martin. To do this, Agrégat had recently made nine ephemeral studios available to artists in the Longueuil metro, before the work began in the area.
Today, the center, in collaboration with local actors on the South Shore, is giving birth to a project to design and acquire a structure and equipment with the aim of offering contemporary art. in the public space and enhance the territory. “It’s a glazed space that we find between the Longueuil metro and the University of Sherbrooke despite the major construction site at the moment, with an exhibition space, two studios for artist residencies, our office and a collective space for our members,” she adds. The co-director is very enthusiastic about this place of passage, which arouses the curiosity of the general public.
In Saint-Hyacinthe, Expression also wishes to create bridges between artists and Montérégians by disseminating and promoting contemporary and current art. Originally a visual arts gallery of the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, this exhibition center has been active since 1985 in the Quebec and Canadian network of contemporary art. “We strongly believe in the importance of culture. We want to give free access to as many people as possible, offer different activities and chat with our visitors,” says Véronique Grenier, programming coordinator at Expression. For her, that the region has such an institution is a real asset. ” It is very enriching ! We are very proud of the place we occupy,” she continues.
Véronique Grenier also indicates that Expression has set up a partnership with its neighbour, Jardin Daniel A. Séguin. “They now reserve a place for us, the atrium, every summer. This year, the place is occupied by road creatures, which presents objects that look like fossils created by the artist duo Pépite Josèphe. They are particularly concerned with consumption and the future of waste, a bit like archaeologists of the future. In order to initiate discussions between the public and the works of Montérégie artists, Expression also organizes conferences, such as the one on eco-anxiety planned as part of this outdoor exhibition.
“What interests us is to develop a committed contemporary art, which takes into account the issues of artists and the territory; collaborative, because we work with different groups; and participative since we try to create encounters with the public to interest them”, finally concludes Cécile Martin, agreeing in this sense with the vision of Expression.
A whole new initiative
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.