---L’Espace Pierre-Debain welcomes first exhibit since lockdown

Reopening the Aylmer-based art gallery L’Espace Pierre-Debain, after being closed for numerous months, the city of Gatineau is hosting a special exhibit put on by local artist Margit Hideg.

The exhibit is open to the public until April 25 and admission is free. Titled Ces liens qui lient, the project is the product of Hideg’s collaboration with nature from a series of interactions with different organic mediums. By creating luminous sculptures, Hideg aims to show the regenerative power of a relationship in a more harmonious world, with the purpose of providing one’s conscience an identity that is completely rooted in nature.

With the pandemic still not over, the exhibit will not include a vernissage – and guests are advised to respect the provincial government’s COVID-19 health and safety regulations. Thrilled to finally get local art exhibits going again, the gallery’s coordinator Josée Prud’homme said she had been impatiently waiting for the fateful day to come.

She explained that Hideg was initially supposed to host an exhibit last year, one day before the pandemic began, and that it seemed fitting to be able to present her work this time around. “It’s an absolutely magnificent exhibit,” Prud’homme said. “It’s the same exhibit. Certain pieces have changed; some have been added … it’s a very meditative exhibit.”

“It links us to nature,” she added. “It’s a great carrier of hope, with light emanating from the pieces.” Proud of local art and wanting to highlight the people who create it, Prud’homme emphasized the importance of coming out to support Hideg and artists from upcoming exhibits. Currently living and working in Cantley, Hideg is a multidisciplinary artist of Hungarian origin, born in Romania. Hideg studied graphic arts, fine-arts, and teaching at the Cluj-Napoca University of art and design before emigrating to Canada in 1989, and then pursued a graphic arts degree at the Detroit College for Creative Studies.

Delighted to see municipal art galleries reopening after being shut down for so long, Commission des arts, de la culture, des lettres, et du patrimoine President and L’Orée-du-Parc district councillor Isabelle N. Miron encouraged the community to use it as an opportunity to get out and support local artists. For the next exhibit at L’Espace Pierre-Debain, the city will welcome another unique exhibit, courtesy of Quebec-based metal sculpting artist Josiane Saucier. “L’Espace Pierre-Debain, at the heart of Aylmer’s heritage district, offers a window of opportunity to creators,” Miron said in the press release. “I hope all will find the time to visit Margit Hideg’s exhibit and to increase their curiosity for all forms of artistic expression. The innovation is launched.”