Programmation

Is art interested in anything other than itself? Should the artist be more aware and involved than a chartered accountant?

With an aim to encouraging social diversity, the Sherpa housing project that provides subsidized housing for people with mental health problems as well as for artists provoked mixed reactions. Comments from some artists interviewed on the subject led the Folie/Culture team to approach the issue of engagement and involvement on the part of creators.

While such words as disengagement, individualism, and social disenchantment are used every which way we wonder if the social involvement of artists has completely disappeared, if it has become a myth, or rather has it been transformed. Referring to the essay, L’art à l’état gazeux by Yves Michaud, Folie/Culture asks a bigger question and wonder if it is not about to dissolve into thin air…

In collaboration with the Galerie des arts visuels de l’Université Laval and Studio P, Folie/Culture was pleased to present a roundtable discussion around the issue of the social engagement of artists. The organization met guests on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 5 p.m. at Studio P.

Panelists from diverse backgrounds spoke on the topic:

Gilles Arteau (Matane), artist and director of l’Espace F; Edith Brunette (Montréal), artist; Benoît Côté (Québec), CEO of PECH, an organization that supports people living with mental health problems; Jocelyn Robert (Québec), artist, professor and director of l’École des arts visuels de l’Université Laval. Animation: Guy Sioui Durand (Québec), sociologist, art critic, independent curator and renowned speaker.

***WATCH THE CONFERENCE HERE***