Hochelaga
- Evolving Montreal
by
Joannie Lafrenière
Showcasing
the neighbourhood’s wonderful people
March
31 - September 10, 2023
This exhibition represents the second part of the Evolving Montreal photographic commission. Joannie
Lafrenière, a photographer and filmmaker, offers an intimate dive into the Hochelaga
neighbourhood. The exhibition brings together different
encounters, videos, photographs and poetry and is an invitation to
explore the artist’s view of what constitutes the essence of
Hochelaga today.
Located
in the south-east of the city, Hochelaga is steeped in a
working-class and Frenchspeaking past. Its
population has played a major role in the city’s industrial
development. Like other Montreal neighbourhoods, Hochelaga has
rapidly transformed over the past few years. The vision of a popular
Hochelaga is slowly fading away under the social and economic
pressures of gentrification.
Lafrenière
has a deep affection for the streets and alleys, but
especially for the people of this neighbourhood where she has lived
for 18 years. The close relationships she establishes with the
subjects of her photographs and films are at the heart of the stories
she tells. The exhibition introduces the public to individuals who
have crossed
the artist’s path and who to her personify the heart of
Hochelaga.
Lafrenière states:
“Through
this intimate portrait of my neighbourhood, I want to give a
dignified voice to forgotten and marginalized people as well as to
important individuals who have crossed my path during the last two
decades spent in Hochelaga. My intention is to highlight their beauty
and colour, without masking the harshness of the experience imprinted
in their features, bodies and hearts, to highlight both what
is left of this working-class neighbourhood and what is being
transformed as it is gentrified.”
A
poetic journey
Visitors
will notice Benoit Bordeleau’s poetry on the walls of the
exhibition. Composed for the exhibition or excerpts from his
collection Orange Pekoe (2021), the poet’s verses and
stanzas dot the gallery with reflections on life in the neighbourhood
and tributes to the resilience of his community,
in dialogue with the images encountered in the exhibition.
Hochelaga,
an evolving neighbourhood
Launched
by the McCord Stewart Museum in 2019, the
Evolving Montreal photographic commission program
supports documentary projects that testify to the transformations of
Montreal neighbourhoods through unique points of view. “The idea
behind Evolving Montreal was born from the conviction that the
Museum should play a more active role, both in supporting the local
photographic community and in building its own photography
collection. The remarkable creativity and documentary value of the
projects produced so far in the series are eloquent proof that
encouraging contemporary photographers to capture the continuous
transformation of the city is a fruitful undertaking,” explains Zoë
Tousignant, Curator, Photography.
Click on Images to enlarge them
All photos @ Nadia Slejskova
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