[PRESS RELEASE] Anniversary program — 20 years of art, exhibitions and histories

To celebrate its twentieth year of existence, Fonderie Darling is embarking on an introspective, self-critical and ambitious fall program with two components: a group exhibition of ten artists entitled Tu m'enveloppes et je te contiens, and an anniversary publication entitled Éphémère Forever.                                                    

TU M’ENVELOPPES ET JE TE CONTIENS

Tu m'enveloppes et je te contiens [You envelop me and I contain you] brings together 10 artists who were invited to create original works for the exhibition in response to the particularities of the Fonderie Darling, whether it references its architecture, its place in the city, the history of its artistic vocation or its institutional transformation into a current art space. This anniversary exhibition celebrating 20 years of Fonderie Darling revisits the archive of hundreds of events that have taken place over the past twenty years and examines the particular nature of the space, an abandoned former metal foundry converted into exhibition spaces and artist residencies. Exhibitions, works from the art collection donated by former residents, and other forms of events and anecdotes that have shaped the identity of the place have been the starting point for the artists' inspiration. Faithful or updated reconstructions, reactivations of works and appropriations are all registers considered.

Through a conceptual, engaged or critical appropriation of a subject, a historical fragment or a reflection on the very notion of the exhibition, the artists revisit the memory of the place to question the constructed nature of history, the question of the archive, its transmission and the various spectral presences that inhabit the context of an institution.

Public programs

This exhibition and the accompanying anniversary catalog are an opportunity to introduce the public to the extraordinary history of Fonderie Darling, from its metamorphosis from an industrial wasteland to a key art institution in the Montreal cultural landscape. The fall program is supported by a rich series of public programs focused on the question of the institutional archive, the tangible archive preserved over the years and the archive transmitted through memory. Conversations, publication launch and guided tours encourage critical reflection, a multiplicity of perspectives that assess what is absent, what is hidden in blind spots and how certain fragments of history are brought forward to construct our cultural awareness of place.

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Visuals:

(Click here to access the high resolution files)