McCord Stewart 2025: Andrew Jackson-Little Burgundy

Andrew Jackson: Little Burgundy

Evolving Montreal series

Black space: Resistance, resilience and the search for belonging

February 21 - September 28, 2025

The Montreal’s McCord Stewart Museum presents a new exhibition, a foray into a south-western district of the city called Little Burgundy. Over a two-year period, the photographer Andrew Jackson documented important landmarks for the Black community and met people who grew up there and still have ties to the area, and also those who live there now. The result is an exhibition featuring 61 photographs of the individuals and sites that bear witness to the urban and social transformations that have impacted Little Burgundy. In addition, three hard-hitting yet touching short films capture local residents’ lived experiences. The exhibition also features some twenty objects and images selected by Andrew Jackson from the Museum’s collection. These artefacts, juxtaposed with contemporary objects loaned by residents, create a dialogue between the past and the present.

Through this project, the photographer exposes the duality involved in designating a place or neighbourhood as a “Black space.” For Black people, it invokes a sense of security, freedom and belonging, while for non-Black persons it conveys a negative image. Andrew Jackson elaborated:

“When city spaces, such as Little Burgundy, are designated as Black spaces, there are profound implications for Black occupants. This is especially true in North America, where historically, in non-Black minds at least, Black spaces have not existed as places of acceptance or celebration of difference. Rather, they have been linked to notions of failure – notions that become catalysts for urban renewal, gentrification and the ensuing erasure of Black communities.”

Black space: a pilgrimage site

As part of his research carried out for the Evolving Montreal photographic commission, Andrew Jackson investigated how Black spaces – both physical and discursive – are experienced by Black communities. He is especially interested in how these sites are created and maintained, whether tangibly or symbolically, as historically occupied physical spaces. His work highlights how these spaces continue to exist in collective memory and how attachment to them endures long after they have been obliterated by urban renewal and the new communities moving in. As Andrew Jackson stated: “This is so powerful that long after Black residents have left, involuntarily or otherwise, they continue to make the pilgrimage of return.”

Little Burgundy

Although the Black population today makes up only about 18% of the neighbourhood’s 11,000 inhabitants, Little Burgundy remains an important historical site for the community. As one of Quebec’s first Black neighbourhoods, it offers a unique perspective on the impact of urban renewal and gentrification on historic populations, as experienced in Montreal and throughout North America in the 20th century. While certain important gathering places like the Union United Church – the oldest Black congregation in Canada – now find themselves outside the neighbourhood’s contemporary borders, they remain intimately linked to the history of the community that founded and animated them.

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson is a British-Canadian photographer based in Montreal since 2019. His practice is developed at the intersection of photography and text and, most recently, focuses on notions of family, transnational migration, displacement, trauma, war and collective memory. He recently published the monograph From a Small Island, the first chapter of his ongoing series Across the Sea Is a Shore, a collection of works that explore the inter-generational legacies of migration from the Caribbean to the UK. Jackson has a history of developing platforms that provide opportunities for traditionally excluded groups to engage with photography. In 2021 he created a public engagement project in collaboration with the DESTA Black Youth Network, located in Little Burgundy, which resulted in a group exhibition shown at the PHI Foundation. His works are held in public collections that include the United Kingdom’s Government Art Collection, the Permanent Collection of the New Art Gallery Walsall and the Autograph ABP and Light Work collections. His photographs have also appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The New Statesman.

Curatorial and production team

An exhibition produced by the McCord Stewart Museum.

Artist: Andrew Jackson

Curator: Zoë Tousignant, Curator, Photography, McCord Stewart Museum

Project management: Eve Martineau, Coordinator, Exhibitions, McCord Stewart Museum

Design: David Martin

Audiovisual production: Tomi Grgicevic

Programming related to the exhibition

Round table: Occupying Space, Shaping Community

Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 6 to 7p.m. – At the Museum – Free In collaboration with Art Souterrain

Little Burgundy: Conversation with artist Andrew Jackson and Zoë Tousignant Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 6 to 7p.m. – At the Museum – Free

Discussion workshop on Black spaces in Montreal: Speaking Up, Speaking Out Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 6 to 7:30p.m. – At the Museum – Free

Evolving Montreal series

McCord Stewart Museum’s President and CEO Anne Eschapasse stated:

“After Robert Walker, who photographed Griffintown, and Joannie Lafrenière, who captured Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, we’ve commissioned Andrew Jackson to explore the urban transformations that have occurred in Little Burgundy, as well as its residents’ experiences and memories of such transformations, as part of our Evolving Montreal series. The resulting exhibition is an opportunity to discover Montreal’s Black communities and a neighbourhood whose identity was irrevocably altered in the name of ‘urban renewal’ in the late 1960s and 1970s.”

Consult the previous 2 Evolving Montreal Series exhibitions:

1. Robert Walker, who photographed Griffintown, here.

2. Joannie Lafrenière, who captured Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, here.

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

The dedicated internets address of this article or click on the title above the first photo at the top. 

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

McCord 2024: Costume Balls

Costume Balls:

Dressing Up History, 1870–1927

November 4, 2024 - March 9, 2025

Tthe Montreal’s McCord Stewart Museum with its new exhibition Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927 introduces the public to the world of fancy dress balls, some dating back 150 years.

The exhibition captures the splendour and extravagance of such events, with guests transforming themselves into a colourful array of characters for an evening. Over 40 dazzling costumes from the Museum’s collection, as well as photographs of costumed ball-goers, souvenir publications and programs, capture the scope and pageantry of those prestigious occasions.

Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927 opens its doors on the centenary of one of such grand balls that was held on November 14, 1924 at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal. This exhibition is presented by La Presse and in collaboration with LaSalle College Montréal, a member of LCI Education.

A focus on history

While ball-goers in search of ideas drew from many aspects of popular culture to choose their characters, the exhibition highlights the predominance of history as a source of inspiration. The many photographs featured in the exhibition reveal guests’ enthusiasm for embodying figures from Canada’s past at historically themed balls.

Immortalizing the event for a lifetime

A visit to the photographer’s studio was a must for those attending a fancy dress ball or skating carnival, so they could create lasting momentous of themselves in the costumes made for these often once-in-a-lifetime social events. Visitors to the exhibition will find many portraits made by William Notman of Montreal and William J. Topley of Ottawa, who ran the leading photo studios of the time.

Cynthia Cooper, the exhibition’s curator, stated:

“This exhibition tells an extraordinary story by bringing together some of the most extraordinary material in the Museum’s collections. Rarely do visitors get a chance to see so many garments from the 19th century (that survived in spite of being created to last a single evening) in an exhibition space, alongside images of the people who wore those costumes. And rarely do we see captured in photography such a lighthearted side of life from a time when public presentation of the self was a most serious matter.”  

Remarkable research project

The exhibition is the culmination of research into the practice of fancy dress, begun over 30 years ago by Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research and Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles, long before she joined the McCord Stewart Museum in 1998. Her work with the Museum’s extensive collections has enabled her to make some astonishing discoveries related to this topic, the latest of which are now being presented to the public for the first time in the exhibition and the catalogue.

Putting 40 costumes from the McCord Stewart Museum’s renowned Dress, Fashion and Textiles collection on display required a colossal effort from the Museum’s team. The limits of traditional conservation practice had to be pushed to allow all the costumes to be displayed, as Caterina Florio, Head, Conservation, explained:

“Given the fragile—or even damaged—condition of some garments, we took a long, hard look at the approaches we could take. This led us not only to question traditional conservation treatments, but also to make bold decisions and experiment with new ideas for preserving material integrity.” 

Andrew McNally, Dean of Fashion at LaSalle College stated

“While Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927  shines a spotlight on the extravagance of period costumes, students completing their studies in Costume specialization within the Fashion Design program will be given the opportunity to create contemporary designs inspired by the theme of the exhibition for presentation at a related Museum event. This unique collaboration between LaSalle College Montréal, a member of LCI Education, and the McCord Stewart Museum embodies the essence of tradition and innovation. The initiative not only emphasizes the historical legacy of the exhibition, it showcases how young designers are taking a creative, modern approach to passing on expertise.” 

The book Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927

Edited by Cynthia Cooper. Photographs by Laura Dumitriu.

Co-publishers: McCord Stewart Museum and 5 Continents Edition

288 pp., hardback, available in English and French versions

CAD $65.00

On sale at the Museum Boutique

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.

McCord 2024: Manasie Akpaliapik

MANASIE AKPALIAPIK: Inuit Universe

Immersion in the legends of the Far North

October 4, 2024 - March 9, 2025

The Montreal’s McCord Stewart Museum presents a new exhibition, organized and circulated by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and adapted by the McCord Stewart Museum. It features the contemporary artist from Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay) on Baffin Island (Nunavut). It features sculptures from the remarkable Inuit art collection of the late Raymond Brousseau and offers a unique insight into the work of Manasie Akpaliapik.

Considered one of the most gifted artists of his generation, Manasie Akpaliapik uses his favourite materials – whale bone, caribou antler and stone – to create works inspired by oral tradition, cultural values, the supernatural world, as well as the wildlife and environment of the Arctic. Drawing from the mythology of the world of snow and ice in which he grew up, the artist turns to nature for inspiration and raw material, from which his unique, captivating and multidimensional works emerge spontaneously. Manasie Akpaliapik doesn’t plan what his works will look like. He combines materials and his sculptures emerge as individual and unique narratives. His fascination with whale bone - his medium of choice, though particularly rare and difficult to access - adds to the uniqueness of his works.

For five decades, Manasie Akpaliapik’s creations have been objects of fascination. Visitors will discover 40 of the artist’s sculptures at this exhibition. They tell a fragment of the story of the Inuit people and inspire reflection at a time when the relationship between humanity, nature, and climate is at the front-page. Wildlife, the tales and legends of the North of the sea goddess Talilayuq and the sacred Owl, as well as the shamanism, the transmission of knowledge and the Arctic environment are embodied in an impressive amalgam of materials that characterizes each of Manasie Akpaliapik’s creations.

Manasie Akpaliapik elaborated:

“Everything that I am doing is trying to capture some of the culture of our traditions, about simple things like hunting, wearing traditional clothing, and using legends. I feel that the only way we can preserve the culture is if people see it.”

Daniel Drouin, curator of the exhibition, stated:

“A virtuoso with hammer Manasie Akpaliapik is without doubt one of the most important sculptors of his generation. Equipped with both a masterful sense of material and technical perfection, the artist has succeeded in infusing his work with a highly personal reaction to the upheavals and transformations of his world, the Canadian Far North, and the people around him. At once humble, simple and reserved, Manasie transforms the bones found in the Arctic soil into inspiring stories. His mission: to transmit a sense of pride to succeeding generations.”

Manasie Akpaliapik grew up in Irpiarjuk on Baffin Island. In the 1980s, he migrated to southern Canada, first to Montreal, then later to the Greater Toronto Area. Although he works from his studio in the “South,” his materials come almost exclusively from the Far North. Every year he returns there since his creative process hinges on the use and combination of materials gathered from the ground in the region where he was born. The forty works presented in the exhibition, with a few exceptions, are entirely made from a combination of materials collected during his annual trips to Nunavut. As he explained:

“My art helps me preserve my connection between north and south, and thus helps me find my place between the Western world and Inuit culture.”

Art as salvation

While Manasie Akpaliapik’s work reflects Inuit history and traditions, it also touches on his own personal story with a profoundly human and universal sensitivity. Art becomes a means of expressing the challenges he has had to overcome, but also of externalizing the demons he has long battled. In his own words: 

“When life gets really tough, my art is always there to pull me up."

His exceptional work demonstrates the influence of contemporary art and culture.

Anne Eschapasse, McCord Stewart Museum President and CEO stated:

“As the custodians of a collection that bears witness to nearly 12,000 years of Indigenous history and presence on the land, the McCord Stewart Museum has long worked to highlight the vitality and diversity of contemporary Inuit, First Nations and Métis artists. Thanks to our collaboration with the Musée national des beaux-arts duQuébec, we are delighted to be able to present the work of Manasie Akpaliapik, who is unquestionably one of the greats of his generation.”

Manasie Akpaliapik

With a career spanning four decades and his art displayed in institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Civilization, and several private galleries, Manasie has created art inspired by his deep love for animals and for Inuit legends and their narratives in which the relationship between humans and animals is one of mutual respect.

Manasie is also a practised drum dancer, drum maker and is versed in kayak building. He continues to travel to the Arctic every year to search the shores for ancient whale bones and to connect with his family and community. He enjoys passing the Inuit legends to the younger generation and works tirelessly to keep the oral tradition of storytelling alive.

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 image or here.

McCord 2024: Michaëlle Sergile

Michaëlle Sergile:

To All the Unnamed Women

Exploring the relationship between history and archival violence

September 13, 2024 - January 12, 2025

This exhibition is presented by the Montreal's McCord Stewart Museum. It combines archival records and fiction, and traces the origins of the first collective created by Black women in Quebec, the Coloured Women’s Club of Montreal (CWCM). Michaëlle Sergile is drawing on the concept of critical fabulation theorized by an American author Saidiya Hartman, defined as a methodology that combines historical and archival research with a critical theory and fictional narrative (see here).

For her first solo exhibition at the museum, the artist has created 7 original tapestries on Jacquard looms. Three of them reconstruct images selected from the Museum’s Photography collection, and four illustrate portraits of CWCM members. Archival photographs and objects from the Museum collections complete the installation. The artist stated:

 “When I started working with textiles, I realized there was a disconnect between the visual arts and craft, as if the two notions couldn’t coexist. I thought it fitted in very well with the way I conceptualized archives, because I was very interested in anything that’s put aside. I felt that the medium of weaving itself was being sidelined. I liked that the word métissage (“racial mix”) contains tissage (“weaving”), just like text and textile.”

For Michaëlle Sergile, creation is a way of confronting the limitations of archives, of imagining and fully recognizing the lives of individuals of whom we have only a few traces. Weaving was an obvious choice as a medium for expressing the realities of the Black women featured in the exhibition, as many parallels can be drawn between the themes addressed and weaving. Often associated with handicrafts, this medium is still rarely used by artists. As proof, only 3 computer-assisted Jacquard looms – used by Michaëlle to create her works – are available in Montreal.

Michaëlle Sergile stated about her installation:

 “To All the Unnamed Women doesn’t simply commemorate the past, but offers a profound reflection on the creation of memories and the importance of identification. Through archives, I can say what I can’t always say. It’s a great way to create a link with people who once existed but are no longer with us today, to give a sense of continuity to their discourse. I think there’s something beautiful and powerful about thinking of all the people who have had these thoughts before you, and being able to associate them with the period you’re living in.” 

Michaëlle Sergile

Michaëlle Sergile is an independent artist and curator working mainly with archives from the post-colonial period, from 1950 to the present day. Her artistic practice aims to understand and rewrite the history of Black communities, and more specifically that of women, through the medium of weaving. Traditionally associated with craftsmanship and femininity, weaving allows her to explorepower relations linked to gender and ethnicity

She has recently exhibited her work at the Musée national des beaux-arts duQuébec, the Musée d’art deJoliette, the Fonderie Darling and the OFF, Biennale deDakar, Senegal. She also waslong listed for the prestigious Sobey Arts Award in 2022. In 2023, she won the Visual Artist of the Year Award at Gala Dynastie and began a residency at the Fonderie Darling.

Curatorial and production team:

An exhibition created by the McCord Stewart Museum.

Artist: Michaëlle Sergile

Project management: Caroline Truchon

Project Manager, Exhibitions Curating: Mathieu Lapointe

Curator, Archives Graphic design: David Martin

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.