GRIFFINTOWN
EVOLVING MONTREAL
Photos by Robert Walker
February 7 - August 9, 2020
This exhibition represents the first photography commission under the Evolving Montreal program, created by the McCord Museum to document the undergoing rapid transformation of Montreal's neighbourhoods. On displays are some 20 large-format photoprints, along with the projection of another approximately 100 images. Also included are photos from the McCord’s collection.
Robert Walker, a Montreal street photographer, presents a photografic tour of
Griffintown. With his colourful shots from 2018 and 2019, Walker prompts the audience to observe how this Montreal neighbourhood is being transformed by radical changes to its urban fabric. He shows frenzied and haphazard real estate development, and focuses on the loss of the old buildings. This brings into focus the need to preserve our architectural heritage and our common history.
Walker's photoprints are screens that capture the clash of the past and the present, expressing it with colours, shapes and patterns. His photos capture an awkward blend of the remains of the working-class, of the industrial district, and the new contemporary buildings that are replacing them and that are designed for the well-off. A recuring pattern in his photos is vericality of architectural and constraction objects. They contrast with the horizontality of the Grffuntown of the past as shown on the photos from the McCord Museum's collection. This is how the new face of Griffintown, one of Montreal’s oldest and most storied neighbourhoods, is emerging.
Robert Walker:
“I found Griffintown to be a beehive of colourful activity. Demolition shovels, construction cranes, pile drivers, cement mixers, dump trucks, all dramatically highlighted against the dramatic background of the Montreal cityscape. The Transformation of Griffintown turned out to be an exhilarating and challenging project”.
EVOLVING MONTREAL – A NEW PROGRAM OF PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMISSIONS
To document Montreal’s ongoing urban transformation and promote documentary photography, over the next three years the McCord Museum will be commissioning some well-known local photographers to explore the changes occurring in a neighbourhood of their choice. This program has been made possible thanks in part to funding from the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
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| Rober Walker presenting his photo book. |
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| Robet Wlker talking to journalists. |
Click on images to enlarge them.
All photos in this article by Nadia Slejskova.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES THAT ACCOMPANY THE EXHIBITION
Screening of the documentary film Horse Palace by Nadine Gomez
Wednesday, February 19, 6 p.m., free
Between the abandoned factories and decrepit buildings of Griffintown is Montreal’s oldest stable, the last remnant of a bygone era. Like an urban tale, this documentary invites us to reflect on the meaning and value of our cities’ intangible heritage.
Photobook Club: About Griffintown with Robert Walker
Wednesday, April 8, 6 p.m., free
The Photobook Club Montréal invites photography enthusiasts to join the discussion group that has the city as its photographic subject for this edition.
Dialogue with Robert Walker
Wednesday, May 5, 6 p.m., free
In conjunction with the exhibition Griffintown, Robert Walker will speak with Hélène Samson, Curator, Photography at the Musée, about his long photographic practice that has taken him from Montreal to Warsaw and New York.
City Talks – Special Edition
Griffintown – Evolving Montreal
Wednesday, June 3, 6 p.m., free
The McCord Museum and Héritage Montréal offer a discussion on the recent transformation of this neighbourhood.
For more information about current exhibitions and activities, visit the McCord Museum website.
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