Exploring control, memory, and technology at L'Imagier

Tashi Farmilo

This fall, L’Imagier, located at 9 Front Street in Aylmer, will host two thought-provoking exhibitions exploring control, memory, and the intersection of technology and humanity. From October 25, 2024, to March 2025, visitors can experience the works of Alegría Gobeil and Julie Favreau.

Protocoles, by Alegría Gobeil and curated by Philippe Bourdeau, examines the control mechanisms that shape psychiatric narratives and their impact on those who have been psychiatrized. Through subtle interventions in the gallery space, Gobeil blurs the lines between institutional signage and personal expression, creating a space where objects become part of an unseen protocol. The exhibition challenges institutional transparency and explores the fragmented memory of psychiatric histories, raising crucial questions about the power dynamics in mental health narratives. Accompanying the exhibition is a fictocritique by Vincent Bonin, deepening the analysis of institutional control over personal history.

Running alongside Protocoles is This Thing (2019), a video work by Julie Favreau, curated by Alice Ricciardi. Projected outdoors in L'Imaginaire park, the video explores the relationship between a human protagonist and a floating entity, engaging in a silent, gestural dialogue. Favreau’s work reflects on technology's omnipresence and its negotiation with human nature and the environment, prompting viewers to contemplate the influence of technology on the human experience.

Both exhibitions complement each other by exploring how systems, whether institutional or technological, shape our understanding of identity and history. L’Imagier, a non-profit committed to contemporary art and diverse voices, presents these works as part of its mission to foster critical reflection.

The public is invited to the opening on October 25, from 5 to 9 PM. Admission is free. For more details, visit: www.limagier.qc.ca.