Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec-Manif d’art (Canada)

Source: www.manifdart.org
Organisation: Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec
Year founded: 2002

Located in the heart of the national capital, the Manif d’art is held every two years in May and June.

In keeping with its mandate, Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec is responsible for several projects, the most important of which is the Manif d’art, the Québec City biennial.

Located in the heart of the national capital, the Manif d’art is held every two years in May and June. A thematic event devoted to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary art, the biennial is distributed among various locations in the Saint-Roch quarter and rallies numerous collaborators from the cultural and artistic sectors. Visitors have access to the on-site art, bilingual guided tours, theme-related events for youth, and creative workshops, allowing everyone to experience the exuberance of contemporary art.

Artists from Québec, Canada, and abroad feature in exhibitions, showcasing cutting edge trends in contemporary art. Colloquiums and forums are organized for the general public as well as for specialists, to examine issues and trends relating to contemporary art. Satellite activities comprise shows, presentations and theme-related activities in which varied artistic disciplines rub shoulders.

Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec is a non-profit organization and a charitable organization. Its primary mandate is to promote investigative and experimental art by showcasing cutting-edge major trends in visual art from Québec, Canada and abroad. Addressing a varied public, the organization establishes contexts for non-conventional creation and exhibition, thereby fostering enquiry into fresh issues within contemporary art.

Nicole Gringas. Photo: Courtesy Manif d'art

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Manifestation internationale d'art de Québec - Manif d'art

160 rue Saint-Joseph Est
Québec (Québec)
Canada G1K 3A7

T: +1 418-524-1917
F: +1 418-524-2276

info@manifdart.org
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Curator and Theme announced for Manif d'art 6. 2011-05-26

Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec is proud to announce the nomination of Nicole Gingras as curator of Manif d’art 6, the Québec City Biennial, to be held in May and June of 2012, and the choice of a new theme: Machines – The Shapes of Movement.

The Manif d’art – the Québec City Biennial is one of the premier activities of Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec, whose mission is to promote research and experimentation in art through the presentation of cutting edge visual art from Québec, Canada and abroad. General and artistic director Claude Bélanger is pleased to count on experienced curator Nicole Gingras for the 2012 edition of the Manif d’art. In his words, “her contemporary and innovative proposals have given rise to exhibitions that are true instruments of reflection, enabling her to bring forward the characteristics that are specific to the Manif d’art. Her vast network, particularly in France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries and keen understanding of the Québec, Canadian and European scenes will contribute to the biennial’s continued ascension among major international events.” Ms. Gingras responded to the invitation to curate Manif d’art 6 with enthusiasm.
Machines
The Shapes of Movement
The main lines of the Manif d’art 6, as defined by guest curator Nicole Gingras will be developed around the word machine and the movements they make. Our world is inhabited by inventions designed to simplify, complexify, mask and transform our relationship to the world. A machine generates, exposes and documents movement. It makes the processes of creation and learning visible and perceptible. It introduces us to moving, this mobile aspect of the phenomena that stimulate humans and keep us alive.
The interests of participating artists comprise words, drawing, kinetic art, sound art, performance, cinema and video. The curator hopes to address the theme from various angles: the mechanical or technical (animation, reanimation, kinetics, recording, dissemination), the conceptual (reflection and the articulation of thought, the creative process) or metaphorical (viewing or listening machines, dreaming machines, utopian machines). She foresees uniting big and small machines: serious, absurd, useful, lucid, derogatory, eccentric, essential, discrete or sometimes even invisible. From one exhibition to the next, visitors will discover, among other things, works created through the use of simple mechanisms or amazingly complex setups. They will be able to observe the drawings or sketches of a machine or a future invention or consult real or fictional texts on the subject.
The entire event will be developed around works presented both in and out of galleries over a six-week period in various Québec City venues. The one-off events segment of the Manif d’art, comprising actions, sound performances and concerts, will be targeted to respect the singularity and specificity of artistic approaches based on the moment at hand, ephemeral manifestations or improvisation. The biennial’s program will becomplemented by meetings with artists and by conferences led by a philosopher, an historian and a researcher. The arts scene and the general public are warmly invited.

Nicole Gingras
Curator of Manif d’art 6 – the Québec City Biennial
Québec City native Nicole Gingras has lived in Montréal since 1982. As an independent curator, or in collaboration with university galleries, artist-run centres, museums and festivals, she has signed several important monographic or thematic exhibitions. Ms. Gingras has been editor of several publications, including an anthology on sound, with an accompanying CD, published by Éditions Artextes. She has also developed numerous film, video and webart programs presented in Québec, Canada and Europe. Nicole Gingras has programmed the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) Experimental section in Montréal since 2003 and recently curated TraficART 2010, a contemporary art biennial organized and produced by [Séquence], Saguenay.
Nicole Gingras trained in visual arts, cinema and art history at Université Laval, Concordia University and Université de Montréal. In 2005, she won the Joan-Yvonne-Lowndes Award, given to an independent curator by the Canada Council for the Arts, and in 1997, the George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award, Art Librarians Society of North America (ARLIS-NA) for the catalogue “Raymonde April : Les fleuves invisibles.” Ms. Gingras teaches at Concordia University.
For more information: communication@manifdart.org

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Sylvie Fortin, curator 5th Edition Manif d'Art. 2010-03-03

Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec is pleased to announce the appointment of Sylvie Fortin, Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning international contemporary art magazine ART PAPERS, as curator of the Manif d’art 5, to be held in 2010. Manif d’art will celebrate its 5th anniversary with Fortin’s project in 2010.

Claude Bélanger, Executive/Artistic Director of the Manifestation, remarked, “I am delighted to entrust the curatorship of the Manif’s 2010 edition to Sylvie Fortin, whose work has consistently tackled challenging, timely questions through informed, yet unorthodox, artistic choices. Fortin’s project will explore provocative ideas and showcase the work of today’s most fascinating artists. The Manif’s international profile has been consistently growing over the past decade. Fortin’s appointment reiterates our commitment to both our community and the world. In addition to her experience and renown, Fortin has previously lived and worked in Quebec City. As such, she understands the unique character of the Quebec art scene, Her Biennale will bring the globe to our city, while reflecting our event’s unique role as both nexus and catalyst.”

Fortin said “I am honored to have been selected to curate the 5th Manif d’art. I look forward to take on the challenge of creating an exciting, citywide event that brings some of today’s most provocative artists and thinkers to Quebec City in 2010. I hope to use this opportunity to commission challenging works, put together a high-energy, thought-provoking event, and engage the public in fresh, meaningful ways. The Manif’s format—citywide thematic exhibition, symposium, publication, and public programs—provides the ideal vehicle to work through timely ideas. In addition, the rich mix of arts and cutural institutions in Quebec City, and their impressive production capacity, provide a unique context from which to focus on artists, ideas, and production.”

Sylvie Fortin
Sylvie Fortin is an independent curator, art historian, critic and editor who has worked internationally since 1991. She became Editor-in-Chief of ART PAPERS in October 2004, spearheading the magazine’s redefinition and redesign, which positioned it as a leading international contemporary art magazine. ART PAPERS now counts subscribers in over 50 countries. She became Executive Director/Editor of ART PAPERS in November 2007. Fortin was Curator of Contemporary Art at the Ottawa Art Gallery (Ottawa, Ontario, 1996—2001), Program Coordinator at la chambre blanche (Quebec City, Quebec, 1991-1994), and a long-term collaborator with OBORO (Montreal, Quebec, 1994-2001). Her critical essays have been published in Canadian, American and European catalogues, and her reviews have appeared in many periodicals including Art Press, C Magazine, Espace, Fuse, NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art and Parachute.
Fortin studied Art History at the University of Toronto, Université Laval, and Duke University. She has received numerous significant grants and awards as a critic and curator, as well as for her academic research. Fortin was named Lexus Leader of the Arts in December 2007.

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Canadian Award for curator of Manif d'art 6. 2012-01-25

Nicole Gingras, curator of the Manif d’art 6, was awarded Curator of the year at the Contemporary Art Galleries Association’s Visual Art Awards.
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