French Artist Talk with Anne-Marie Proulx for the AIMINANU exhibition at YYZ Artists’ Outlet
Saturday May 13 at 2PM (an english artist talk will follow at 3PM)
LOCATION: YYZ Artist Outlet , #140 – 401 Richmond St. W. , Toronto, ON
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/events/1881717632087996/
IMAGE: Anne-Marie Proulx: Aiminanu, 2017
Exhibition Description : AIMINANU by Anne-Marie Proulx
Aiminanu is a word in Innu-Aimun which translates to “there is a conversation going on.” The exhibition rests upon this idea of conversation—between languages, cultures, and people. Through an ensemble of sentences selected from an Innu-French dictionary, it also explores the relations between language, territory, and identity. The dictionary appears as a place of affirmation, where the language itself is speaking: the Innu words, when translated, become sentences which carry meanings, knowledge, and poetic evocations. Placed in the gallery according to the meaning of the four directions, the sky, and the earth, they also evoke an intimate relation between human and territory, in tune with the cycles of the day, of the seasons, and of life. The dictionary also represents a place of dialogue between a spoken language, Innu, and a written language, French—a dialogue that echoes with the sound that is heard in the space, the voices of a conversation between the artist and Mathias Mark, who expresses the importance of hearing the words of his language and culture. Aiminanu thus suggests listening to these voices that come from the earth and that mix with the currents of rivers.
ANNE-MARIE PROULX
Originally from Lévis, where she grew up on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, Anne-Marie Proulx now lives and works on the other side of the river, in Québec City. With a practice that integrates words and images, she creates poetic works that are situated between history and myth, a consciousness of the world and its interpretation. Her works present themselves as free spaces, open to the imagination, where the real is transformed to reach new narrative evocations. She has presented her work at La Centrale, Panache art actuel, the Darling Foundry, and Regart, and it will be included in upcoming exhibitions at Galerie UQO, FRAC Lorraine (France), and in the exhibition program of Montréal’s 375th anniversary. She has contributed writing for YYZ, Eastern Edge, Ciel variable, Esse, and Les Éditions du Renard, and has presented lectures at conferences in Québec and internationally. annemarieproulx.com
annemarieproulx.com
MATHIAS MARK
Mathias Mark is from Pakuashipi, a community situated on the lower northern coast of the Saint Lawrence River. He lives on the banks of the Pakua Shipu, a large river which is the way into the interior of the territory, where the Innu traditionally lived in the winter season, following caribou herds. Through the teachings of the elders, he is invested in learning the skills and knowledge of his traditional Innu culture, in order to share them with new generations. He is interested in the technical as much as the spiritual aspects of hunting, following preparation methods with respect for the animal, while listening to traditional songs and to the rhythm of the teueikan, the sacred drum. He has also begun recording the stories of the elders so that their memories will continue to inspire the life of the Innus.
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Mathias Mark, Tanya Lalo Penashue, Craig Rodmore, Guy Sioui Durand, Sodec, VU, L’Œil de Poisson, François Simard, Le Labo, YYZ.