Gare de Matapédia — art and community centre

PRESENTATION

Quartier Éphémère and the art centre Vaste et Vague have joined forces to set up an artistic and community centre in the heart of the municipality of Matapédia, in a natural setting as grandiose as it is inspiring. This project in contemporary visual arts highlights the local heritage. It integrates artists' residencies, an exhibition on the heritage of the train station, a gallery space, art activities open studios events. It aims to create a meeting place, to bring art closer to the communities and to offer both a place of creation outside the metropolitan area to Quebec artists, as well as an opportunity for artists from the Gaspé Peninsula to stay in Montreal.

THE STATION

Still in operation, the Matapedia train station is a heritage building representative of the history of regional development by train. The project will preserve the authenticity of the building and enhance it. A train station is a space that invites you to let yourself be carried away by an imagination of travel and discovery. It is also a place of encounters, a place of arrivals and new departures. VIA Rail supports this project by allowing the use of a large part of the building while preserving the use of the waiting room by train passengers.

A PROJECT ANCHORED IN THE COMMUNITY

The Matapedia train station is located in the heart of the village and is in line with the Belvedere road, the tourist information, the recently renovated church, the community garden and the local businesses nearby. Collaborations are planned with the École des Deux-Rivières de Matapédia. Partnerships with three local community and cultural organizations will also allow the population to benefit from activities and services on site. The opening of this new space will contribute to the municipality's dynamism while reinforcing the social ties within the community and developing a sense of belonging through the valorization of a railway heritage building, a symbol of ecological values and the development of the municipality at the very beginning of the 20th century.

CALL FOR PHOTOS

The Matapedia train station and the railroad in general have strongly contributed to the economic and social development of the Gaspé Peninsula. The first exhibition in the train station will be dedicated to the development of this more than one hundred year old building, registered as a National Heritage Site, and to the many people who worked there. A call is launched to the population to share their old or recent photos. The most significant of them will be published in the form of a postcard.

To share your photos, please visit this Facebook group or send them to us by email at: info@fonderiedarling.org

PILOT EXCHANGE: MATAPEDIA-MONTREAL ARTIST RESIDENCIES

The Matapedia train station is a heritage building whose original architecture is intact. It evokes the development of the regions by train and multiple journeys, witnesses of different eras. The Matapedia train station becomes a creative workshop space for two three-month residencies as part of this pilot project.

Reciprocally, the project also gives artists from the Gaspé region access to creation and dissemination spaces in an urban setting at the Fonderie Darling, in the historically rich premises of a former industrial building in the heart of Old Montreal.

The project includes, in addition to the creative residency, a workshop or activity component linked to the communities, both in Matapedia and in Montreal, either in schools or with partner community organizations. It can be a participatory project, art workshops, discussions, public performances, public art or other.

ABOUT THE ARTIST RUN CENTRE VASTE ET VAGUE (CARLETON-SUR-MER) 

Founded in 1990 in Carleton-sur-Mer, the art centre Vaste et Vague favours research and experimentation in current art practices and modes of dissemination. Its active role at the regional, provincial, national and international levels is based on a program of research and creation residencies as well as on various modes of dissemination: productions and exhibitions within or outside the city, events, digital platforms and publications.

* Quartier Éphémère and the art centre Vaste et Vague would like to thank the Conseil des arts de Montréal, Conseil des arts et letter du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, Municipality of Matapédia, Via Rail Canada, Innergex and Boralex for their generous support.