Despite the rain, the audience came in great numbers to hear the American rapper Freddie Gibbs at Montreal MURAL Festival on June, 15, 2019, with a mural of Spanish artists Pichiavo in the background. To avoid crowds or gatherings, the 2020 MURAL Estival organized online music presentations. (Photo Credits: Darwin Doleyres)
In a city where festivals are almost as numerous as churchtowers, a summer event that cannot go unnoticed is Montreal MURAL Festival. Usually happening over a dozen days in mid-June with a flurry of visual art, installations and music acts taking over the St-Laurent Bvd, the international street art celebration has reinvented itself this year with an extended edition calledMURAL Estival – a bilingual pun on “summertime” in French. Running from June until September, this has been a feast – albeit digital – for the eyes and the ears.
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Like previous years, MURAL Estival has been quietly transforming “the Main” – this is the way Montrealers call the St. Laurent Bvd -, but it has also expanded its reach as new artwork has also sprouted on the walls and on the pavement of other neighbourhoods.
In the Entertainment District, a ‘tricot-graffiti’ (yarn bombing) entitled “Tricotés serrés” was painted on the median strip between the road and the bike path, while in Côte-des-Neiges, a mural on the Jewish General Hospital was painted as an homage to the health workers who have been working so hard during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Except for two Ontarian artists, this edition focuses on local artists, and includes more digital events. Two murals have been created in July, respectively “Instinct” by digital visual artist Fvckrenderand “Jardin secret” by French muralist Ankhone. Five more murals are in the works and should be ready for passersby to enjoy by the end of August. Check out the festival’s dynamic map showing all the murals created since the first edition in 2013.
The mural “Instinct” was designed by visual artist Frédéric Duquette, a.k.a. Fvckrender, whose work went from digital to physical for his participation at MURAL Estival. The work was painted by Jeremy Shantz, a polyvalent artist from British Columbia now living in Montreal. (Photo Credits: JF Galipeau)
The 2020 Mural Estival edition has kept a low profile in June and July, but with the gradual lifting of the shutdown and the closure of the St-Laurent Bvd to traffic for 10 days starting August 13, it has regained its territory. For instance, Montreal native Francorama (aka Franco Égalité) has designed and painted “Together apart with street art”, an immersive terrasse that has been providing a safe space to sit and have a drink while respecting physical distancing measures.
More francophone musicians
MURAL Festival started just like that in 2013: “the Main” was closed to cars during the summer season, which literally opened new avenues for artistic expression. Hip hop, rap and electronic music were quickly added to the programming, which gradually included more francophone musicians as the hip hop scene was maturing in Quebec.
“The festival’s headquarters initially was in a parking lot on St. Laurent, between Sherbrooke and Prince-Arthur. We rented it to produce murals around, and we set up a tent in the center with a DJ kit, and we were lucky enough to have Kaytranada as he was just starting his career.”Pierre-Alain Benoît, General Director, MURAL festival
“Last year, the francophone scene exploded, and we diversified our music presentations with more Quebec DJS and bands like Alaclair Ensemble, Dead Obies or Milk & Bone. The two crowds – anglophone and francophone – are getting more mixed nowadays,” Benoît said.
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New technologies mixing music and visual arts
Of course, the usual music presentations produced by MURAL, where thousands of Montrealers and tourists used to spend the night in the street, are not happening this year. Event organizers had to find new ways to produce their cultural happenings and stay alive despite the shutdown, and that’s when social media became instrumental.
Luckily, MURAL could take advantage of its international reputation. “About 65% of our Instagram followers are watching from abroad,” says Benoît. “In the physical world we already had ‘art battles” with visual artists painting live during a music presentation, but this was not easy to do online,” he added.
“The concept that has been most popular among our international viewers is a visual animation performed by artists on the live images of a music show, like an online VJ session broadcast with a new app called Tagtool.” Pierre-Alain Benoît
In 2019, the MURAL Festival organized “Tagtool Party”, a workshop where people were invited to express their creativity using an app that allowed them to paint with light or make animated graffiti with an iPad. (Photo Credits: JF Galipeau)
An Instagram functionality allowing two different video feeds to be broadcast at the same time on screen also came in handy for MURAL. During the weekly Split Sessions broadcast each Thursday at 6:00pm, viewers can enjoy free live music shows/artistic happenings on MURAL Estival’s Instagram.
For instance, on August 6, actress and singer Claudia Bouvette was singing in English and French on the bottom part of the screen while on the top half, pop artist Antoine Tava was painting a pair of initially white Stan Smith tennis shoes.
Another great session was this past Thursday, August 20, when the festive band Clay and Friends shared their Instagram presentation with Miss Cloudy, an expert in the art of paper folding. Watching her turn unidimensional sheets of paper into a 3D artwork is a unique way to discover the creative process of a designer that has collaborated with cultural institutions such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, or les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
Meanwhile, Mike Clay and his friends were bringing their joie de vivre to fans watching from Canada and Europe, where the band performed innumerous shows last year after releasing the album La Musica Popular de Verdun.
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Much praise for Quebec’s new pop darling
During last year’s tour, Clay and Friends often opened for Quebec new star Les Louanges. Although you’d expect to hear a band, behind the plural name – meaning The Praises in French – is one young man who was baptized as Vincent Roberge.
This is the continuation of an extremely successful period for Roberge. Following the 2018 release of his first album La nuit est une panthère, he immediately snatched three Felix Awards – the most important in Quebec’s music industry – and was also praised in English Canada, winning the 2020 JUNO Award for the Francophone Album of the Year last June.
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Rooftop music shows
Unlike Clay and Friends, Les Louanges is not singing in an indoor venue this Saturday, but rather on the rooftop of the PHI Centre, in Old Montreal. This art gallery, known for its involvement in contemporary art and virtual reality, was founded in 2012, like the MURAL Festival. Both cultural institutions have been collaborating on various projects throughout the years, and this August 22nd rooftop show is designed to be an event marking a resurgence of activity in troubled times.
The PHI Centre programming director, Renelle Desjardins, said she wanted to cast Les Louanges for her summer online music series Sonication.
“I don’t usually pick francophone artists, but Vincent (aka Les Louanges) is different. He is very creative, very fresh. This is not the usual ‘chanson francophone’.” Renelle Desjardins, PHI Centre programming director
Sonication features live shows recorded on the rooftop of the historic building and broadcast in real time on screens throughout the PHI Centre, and then shown as a web series each Wednesday on PHI’s Facebook page.
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Apart from Les Louanges, Desjardins said she also selected the Montreal band Random Recipe, who played at the PHI Centre in the first years of its existence and went on touring the world. “This is the kind of artists that are fit for both audiences, the one that frequents the PHI Centre and the MURAL festival-goers,” she said.
Although the PHI Centre’s music stage and top notch studio were designed by sound engineers and acousticians, the place is mostly known for its art gallery, says Renelle Desjardins, who sees this collaboration with MURAL Estival as a way to boost its international reputation.
At the crossroads of art and technology
This shutdown has forced event programmers out of their comfort zone, and in a way, this is for the better. The audience gets to discover new artists, such as Montreal DJ and producer Hologramme (aka Clément Leduc) whose minimalistic electronic productions evoke cinematic images. He will be playing live on August 27’s MURAL Estival’s Split Sessions, along with visual artist Josiane Lanthier.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
