McCord 2024: MC Snow

Presence of the Past by MC Snow

Visual poetry rooted in tradition and the transmission of knowledge

March 1 - August 18, 2024

McCord Stewart Museum new exhibition Presence of the Past by MC Snow is a part of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA). MCShows' Kanien’kehá:ka installation immerses the viewer in a space filled with the objects from the Museum’s Indigenous Cultures collection including some contemporary works.

MC Snow explored the Museum’s reserves and selected forty objects from which he drew inspiration to create two original sculptures at the center of the exhibition.

Through the emotions and messages conveyed by the Kanien’kehá:ka cultural objects conserved by the Museum, the artist puts forward a contemporary interpretation of the teachings, traditions and know-how transmitted by the objects in the collection. With Presence of the Past, MC Snow wishes to emphasize the importance of researching and preserving Indigenous cultural property, essential to transmitting the knowledge and safeguarding the cultural traditions of Indigenous peoples.

Some of the cultural objects that are presented at the exhibition date back to the 14th century. By juxtaposing those objects – mostly of Kanien’kehá:ka origin – with the contemporary representations of his reflections on the past, MC Snow explores his personal visceral emotions towards them and focuses attention to the ways in which they convey meaning.

Presence of the Past focuses on poetic metaphors relating to truth, care, protection, transmission and memory. Those metaphors express the teachings that emanate from the creation story, forming a visual poetry rooted in oral tradition.

 MC Snow explained:

  “For me, pots have always been objects that carry something. We place things in pots to contain and protect them. The same applies to baby carriers. Just as we carry ideas, we carry our children. These are objects and knowledge that we preserve for the future, and therefore for generations to come. The Girl with the Basket (one of two works by MC Snow in the exhibition) is also a character who communicates ideas through her basket. She communicates them to the children she carries in her baby carrier.” 

 Research and knowledge preservation

The artist’s concern with emphasizing the importance of researching and preserving Indigenous cultural property is reflected in the objects selected by MC Snow and Jonathan Lainey, Curator, Indigenous Cultures at the McCord Stewart Museum. The public will be able to view some forty rarely exhibited cultural items from the Indigenous Cultures collection: pottery, baby carriers, dolls and arrows. For MC Snow, the arrows represent self-preservation and the protection of Indigenous languages and cultures. The dolls embody the stories that Kanien’kehá:ka elders tell their children to explain the world around them. Baby carriers and decorated pots are used to pass on these values and teachings to future generations. The pot fragments are preserved so that their past remains accessible. The artist insists on the importance of treating objects with dignity, because for Indigenous nations, cultural property is more than just an object; it holds the spirits of their ancestors.

MC Snow stated:

 “Seven years ago, I embarked on an ambitious project that teamed up the City of Montreal and the Kanien’kehá:ka territory of Kahnawake to address and valorize the theme of truth and reconciliation. I believe that every time we, as a First Nation community, engage in any kind of meaningful way with Tiohtià:ke, it furthers our way on this path of reconciliation and respect. We are, after all, very close neighbors. Through the Peel Street Project, the BACA, and now the McCord Stewart Museum, I take responsibility to accept and uphold my end of the bargain: to engage in a truthful and meaningful dialogue to promote this idea of peace and mutual respect.

If one memory or emotion is taken away from this Presence of the Past, let it be that the spirit it was done in was one of good-minded collaboration, much conversation and opinion sharing, and enthusiastic effort from both sides. This was my desire in this work, to take part in building a new vessel that could carry our hopes and stories into the future. My time with the McCord Stewart Museum has been a turning point in my own personal journey of truth and reconciliation. I hope to pass on and send people home with something good to share.”

MC Show presenting his exhibition

 MC Snow

MC Snow is a multidisciplinary Kanien’kehà:ka artist living in Kahnawá:ke. MC is a graduate of the University of Ottawa fine arts department (BFA). He has been working and exhibiting in Canada and the United States since the 1990s. His mostly sculptural work combines traditional materials and techniques. While reflecting contemporary concerns, his work contributes to preserving traditional artistic value and defending Kanien’kehà:ka cultural identity. 

Two photos below capture MC Show working on one of his sculptures at the exhibition at his studio.

Click on Images to enlarge them

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

For more information about current exhibitions and special evens associated with this exhibition, visit the McCord Stewart Museum website.

For this article's dedicated internet address, click on the title above the very first photo.

Horizon of Khufu 2024

The Horizon of Khufu:

A Journey in Ancient Egypt

North American premiere

in the Old Port of Montreal

More than 26,000 tickets sold already

February 16 - May 31, 2024 or longer if extended

The Horizon of Khufu is an immersive virtual reality expedition of immense scope that transports visitors into the heart of one of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Considered to be a true Wonder of the World, this pyramid, the only remaining one of seven, has stood the test of time. Remaining a witness to Egypt’s 4,500-year-old architectural expertise and powers, the Great Pyramid of Khufu has dominated the Giza Plateau and the city of Cairo for millennia. Erected between 2,590 and 2,565 BC, the 146-meter-high stone edifice was originally the largest ever built by man. Conceived to house King Khufu in his final resting place, the pyramid continues to this day to attract and fascinate visitors from all over the world.

This unique 3D virtual Journey in Ancient Egypt is a 45-minute experience, and the result of three years of research and development by Emissive. Their VR headset will transport the audience over 8,000 km from Montreal for a journey back to the third millennium B.C. when the Great Pyramid of Khufu has dominated the Giza Plateau. Starting at the base of the tallest pyramid in Egypt, the audience is than brought inside the pyramid, at the top of the pyramid, and then on an ancient boat and a journey along the Nile river.

This is a truly unique experience not to be missed. The audience is nit only introduced to the Millenia old architectural marvel, but also to some religions believes and customs of the ancient Egypt.

Just remember, in case you might start feeling dizzy at some point, that at all times you are actually standing on and walking along a solid floor.

Your guide on this virtual, historical, and mystical journey will be Mona, a 3D virtual personality who will guide you along.

About Emissive | Excurio

Emissive was founded in 2005 by Emmanuel Guerriero and Fabien Barati, both immersive technologies passionate professionals. Today, Emissive is a group of 25 talented people all working from their Parisian offices: designers, 3D artists, developers, animators, project managers who all embody creativity and technological innovation. Here at Emissive, we all believe that Virtual Reality is an opportunity to tell a better story, a story that you live, not that you consume.

PHI Studio, the organizer of the Montreal event

PHI Studio has developed a reputation as an incubator for talent at the vanguard and as a catalyst for the conception and implementation of immersive multidisciplinary projects. We are continually exploring the ways in which technology can lead to new forms of artistic expression and storytelling. PHI Studio is committed to collaborating with artists, producers, and partners to foster the creation and development of innovative artworks at the vanguard, shaping the future of the immersive experience.

Click on images to enlarge them.

6 first photos courtesy of Emissive and PHI Studio.

3 bottom photos @ Nadia Slejskova

For this article's dedicated internet address, click on the title above the very first photo.

Visit The Horizon of Khufu website to check on the opening hours and to purchase your tickets online.

MMFA 2024: Georgia O'Keeffe and Henry Moore

Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore:

Giants of Modern Art

February 10 – June 2, 2024

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is presenting the Canadian exclusive Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore: Giants of Modern Art. This large-scale exhibition sets for the first time the work of American painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887‑1986) in dialogue with the British sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986).

The exhibition is organized by the San Diego Museum of Art. It examines in parallel the lives and the artistic paths of these two 20th-century icons. Through their over 120 works, as well as the additional recreation of each artist’s studio, visitors can discover the evolution of O’Keeffe’s and Moore’s artistic practices, and how the artists emphasized the fundamental relationship between the humanity and the natural world.

Though they lived on separate continents, O’Keeffe and Moore shared a coherent vision and approach to Modernism. Their commonality lies in their intense sensitivity to the natural world and their ongoing exploration of their rural and open environments surroundings. Natural forms were both for O’Keeffe and Moore central to their individual artistic creation.

Both O’Keeffe and Moore, on their daily excursions and travels, both artists collected stones, animal skulls and bones, gnarled roots, pieces of wood, and coiled seashells with which they filled their studios. Their vast collections of such found objects reveal striking similarities. The first ever, the meticulous recreation of their respective studios enables the public to see how these found objects shaped their creation and inspired some of their most important works.

Georgia O’Keeffe's studio

Henry Moore's Studio

A remarkable collection of works

O’Keeffe and Moore have been the subjects of innumerable exhibitions but never before has their work been brought together. The artworks in the exhibition come mainly from the Henry Moore Foundation, in Hertfordshire, England, and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, in New Mexico, as well as from approximately 20 museums and private collections.

The works on display comprise paintings, works on paper and sculptures in diverse media, ranging from plasters and bronzes to lead, rare woods like elm and lignum vitae, marble, as well as Hopton Wood stone, Cumberland alabaster and even a sculpture carved from stalactite. 

Masterpieces include in MMFA exhibition:

Moore’s stringed Bird Basket (1939), Reclining Figure (1959-1964), Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae (1968) and Working Model for Oval with Points (1968-1969),

and O’Keeffe’s Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 3 (1930), Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory (1938) and Pedernal – From the Ranch #1 (1956). 

In addition, the present Montreal exhibition includes works from its own collection, including a transformation drawing and four sculptures by Moore, as well as a portrait of O’Keeffe photographed by Yousuf Karsh.

The exhibition also integrates a selection of video interviews conducted with the two artists at certain points in their careers.

Mary-Dailey Desmarais, MMFA Chief Curator, states:

“We are thrilled to collaborate with the San Diego Museum of Art to present the work of pioneering modern artists Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore in Montreal. Illuminating the singular and powerful, if unspoken, dialogue between O’Keeffe and Moore, this exhibition sheds new light on their shared appreciation for the interconnection between humans and the natural world, an essential subject for our time.”

Anita Feldman, Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs, San Diego Museum of Art, and Curator of the exhibition comments:

“The two artists met only once that we know of, on the occasion of Moore’s solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1946. O’Keeffe had also had a solo exhibition there the same year. We have to wonder what this formidable institution was saying to devote their program to these two artists just as the world was reeling from the trauma of war. Could it be that their art offered something life affirming, positive and healing through its humanistic connection with nature?”

Iris Amizlev, Curator – Community Engagement and Projects at the MMFA and curator of the Montreal presentation, elaborates:

“Given the many similarities in O’Keeffe’s and Moore’s artistic interests, habits, formal explorations and iconographic vocabularies, it’s difficult to fathom that no extensive exchange of ideas ever occurred between them. Linked by an intangible connection that transcended time and space, they followed parallel trajectories of prolific output inspired by natural forms.”

After Montreal, the exhibition will be presented at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (October 13, 2024 – January 20, 2025).

Click on images to enlarge them.

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

This article's dedicated internet address, or click on the title above the very first photo.

Visit the the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website to check on the opening hours and to purchase your ticket online.

The grandson of the artist Henry Moore, whose name is also Henry Moore and who works at the Henry Moore's Foundation in England, was also present at the Press Conference. He is captured in the two photos below.