Press release
For immediate release

Québec City, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 – This coming May 12 through 27, Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec (MIAQ) will present an exhibition comprising 7 Québec artists during one of the most important Mexican cultural festival. Invited by the director of the event, Sergio Alejandro Matos, the organization responsible for the Manif Art is among those who will represent the province for the contemporary visual arts component of the event.

Headed by director Claude Bélanger and curator Sylvain Campeau, the Candide/Candido exhibition will be part of the 15th edition of the Festival Cultural de Mayo which will take place mainly in the city of Guadalajara along with 12 other neighboring cities. The artists will occupy the Hospicio Cabañas, a UNESCO World Heritage site, during and beyond the event, ending July 15. This year, Quebec is the festival’s guest of honor.

The exhibition includes the works of artists Doyon-Rivest, Cooke-Sasseville, Jocelyn Robert, Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Jérôme Fortin, Raphaëlle de Groot, and Dan Brault. For the curator, Sylvain Campeau, Candide/Candido reflects a certain candour and transparency : ”The works of the selected artists are not presented as embodiments of deconstructive tenets. On the contrary, these artists generally prefer to espouse their themes directly, close at hand, and not to formally distance the themes and questions they wish to illustrate.”

The general and artistic director of MIAQ, Claude Bélanger, is pleased to be part of this event and to honnor the mission of his organisation : ”This opportunity gives superb visibility to Quebec contemporary art and makes it possible for our artists’ talent to be known abroad. I am very proud of what we will present to the visitors of the Festival Cultural de Mayo.”

In addition to this exhibition, MIAQ will hold the Manif d’art 6 in Quebec City from May 3 through June 3, 2012. The theme, chosen by curator Nicole Gingras, is Machines : the Shapes of Movement. This year, the Espace 400e Bell is the main site of the biennial, which includes 75 artists distributed over thirty or so sites in the Quebec City area and whereabouts.

Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec is a non-profit organization and a recognized 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.

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Source :
Patrick Fournier
Communications Coordinator
Manifestation Internationale d’art de Québec
418 524-1917
communication@manifdart.org

Daniel Vandal
Communications assistant
Manifestation internationale d’art de Québec
418 524-1917
adjcommunication@manifdart.org

For a second year the Manif d’art – the Québec City Biennial is presenting, from September 18 to November 28, an exhibition of Québec artists at the prestigious Liverpool Biennial in England. Under the direction of Claude Bélanger (Manif d’art) and curator Sylvain Campeau, the exhibition will bring together nine Québec artists under the title Tactful Rituals. It will be presented in the context of City States, the new international pavilion devoted to foreign exhibitions located at the Novas Contemporary Urban Center (CUC) in Liverpool.

From September 18 to November 28, ten guest countries will present exhibitions in City States, the new international segment of the Liverpool Biennial, a testimony to the cultural dynamics that exist between cities and states. The Manif d’art – the Québec City Biennial, was invited to ensure a Québec presence following an initial collaboration with the Liverpool Biennial in 2008.

Tactful Rituals brings together the multidisciplinary work of Québec artists Annie Baillargeon, Claudie Gagnon, Massimo Guerrera, Adad Hannah, Manon Labrecque, Catherine Sylvain, Julie Andrée T. and the duo Carl Bouchard / Martin Dufrasne. Mirroring the concept of City States and the theme of the Liverpool Biennial, Touched, curator Sylvain Campeau has united proposals that rely on the body as an object for creation. The opening will take place September 17 at the grand opening of the Liverpool Biennial. Julie Andrée T. and Massimo Guerrera will present performances.

General and artistic director of the Manif d’art, Claude Bélanger, curator Sylvain Campeau and the artists will be flying to Liverpool September 10 to mount Tactful Rituals. Their presence at a major contemporary art event is an exceptional opportunity to showcase Québec art among a vast audience of specialists, artists and art aficionados. It is also an opportunity to promote the work of Québec creators in the current panorama of cutting edge practices.

MORE INFO ON THE EVENT ->

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