Baie-Saint-Paul, August 30, 2021 - The 39th International Contemporary Art Symposium in Baie-Saint-Paul ended yesterday after 5 intense weeks of creation in the workshops of the Jacques St-Gelais Tremblay pavilion at MACBSP. During a final virtual tour posted on Facebook, artistic director Sylvie Lacerte presented the final works of the 12 artists of the 2021 edition to the public.
Madame Lacerte, whose mandate as artistic director ends at the same time as this edition, gives a positive assessment of her experience:
“I am ending my 3-year term with an incredible edition! It is quite rare for an exhibition curator to be in such close contact with so many artists in the creative process. It’s a tremendous opportunity. I want to thank them all. I would also like to thank Jacques St-Gelais Tremblay and the Board of Directors of the Baie-Saint-Paul Contemporary Art Museum for showing their confidence in me by selecting me as artistic director. I also thank the current Director General, Martin Ouellet, for his confidence, with whom I worked for the last two editions of the Symposium. Finally, thank you to the Symposium and Contemporary Art Museum teams, who offered me unwavering support. "
The Director General of the Museum, Martin Ouellet, is delighted with the unfolding of the event:
“In the current context, we are extremely happy to have been able to present the event this year, but even more to see that the enthusiasm is still alive and well. Over the past 5 weeks, the public has been present and this has translated into several hundred visitors every day. The virtual conferences have been viewed by thousands of Internet users. On site, the spirit of community and sharing between artists and the public permeated the event in a truly marked way this year. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to making this event a success and especially Sylvie Lacerte. With this edition barely over, the whole team is already hard at work preparing for next year's Symposium. There is no shortage of good ideas! "
It is also during this virtual visit that Sylvie Lacerte unveiled the identity of the new artistic director of the Symposium as well as the theme proposed to the artists for 2022. The one whose mandate will cover the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions of this event of international stature is the independent curator and art historian, Anne Beauchemin:
"It is with great enthusiasm that I take up the torch of this responsibility which is the artistic direction of the Symposium. I am all the happier that in 2022 we will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. My theme for next year is Connected-Interconnected: The Digital World in Question. For several years now, we have been living through a digital revolution that is gaining momentum and which has a remarkable impact on our way of life, on our way of perceiving and creating.
It is a theme that allows us to tackle many avenues, which opens up several avenues. There is a concern, an interest in digital technology in the way many artists work. The 40th Symposium therefore calls for a diversity of perspectives on the digital experience and on the experience we have of this world, and all the reflection that this experience engages. The call is therefore out to all artists from all disciplines who are interested in this issue. "
People's Choice Award
It was Jennifer Alleyn who won the People's Favorite Award, a $ 3,000 scholarship offered by the official presenter of the event, the Casino de Charlevoix. Tangible proof of this community spirit that animated the Symposium this year, the artist from Lausanne in Switzerland, who lives and works in Montreal, has chosen to share his prize with his eleven colleagues.
Call for projects for the 2022 edition
The year 2022 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Symposium. The call for projects for this edition will be published in all networks dedicated to the visual arts at the provincial, national and international levels in mid-September. The procedure to follow as well as the form to be completed for artists interested in submitting their candidacy will also be available on the Symposium website in mid-September.
Press relations:
Véronique Gagnon, Head of Communications and Marketing
Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul
Tel: 418 265-0947; Email: communications@macbsp.com
