L'Imagier launches a three-month photography and video exhibition

Tashi Farmilo

L'Imagier will open two exhibitions at a double vernissage at the art centre at 9 Front Street in Aylmer on October 15 at 6 pm, unveiling Chelsea artist Meryl McMaster's photographs and videos of land, memory and ancestry alongside a group show by Nate Nettleton, Andrew Doxtater and Randy Hogg.

All four artists will attend the evening, said Amélie Rondeau, the centre's programming manager. "The event will be very relaxed, with no official opening remarks and a DJ," she said, adding that it is expected to last close to two hours. No registration is required.

McMaster's exhibition, anima askiy pihcâyihk kiyânaw (The Land Within Us), was curated by Rondeau and runs to January 17, 2027. It brings together photographs from the series As Immense as the Sky, Wanderings and In-Between Worlds with two video works from nôhkominak âcimowina (Stories of My Grandmothers). "McMaster's photographs immerse us in vast landscapes where performance, ancestral memory and self-representation intermingle," Rondeau said. The videos carry those ideas into movement and sound, presenting the land as a living guardian of ties between generations. "Together," she added, "these works constitute an immersive journey into her poetic explorations of identity and place."

The show extends outdoors. "The film nipēhtēnān kiteh (We Can Hear Your Heartbeat) will be presented on the rear facade of L'Imagier, facing Parc de L'Imaginaire," said Rondeau. According to the centre's website, the projection runs every evening from sunset to 10 pm for the length of the exhibition.

"Meryl McMaster is a great artist of the region, based in Chelsea," Rondeau said. "We selected her because she offers a sensitive vision of our territory and a plural perspective." That perspective stems from her mixed ancestry: she is nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) from Red Pheasant Cree Nation, a member of Siksika Nation, and of British and Dutch descent. Her work is held by the National Gallery of Canada and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, among other collections.

The grandmothers series draws on the lives of her grandmother Lena McMaster, her great-grandmother Isabella Wuttunee and her great-great-grandmother Matilda Schmidt. The artist told Remai Modern in Saskatoon that she resolved to make her grandmothers visible, given how much of their history has gone unrecognized.

On the ground floor, Floral Emblems is curated by Nettleton, who has permanent public artworks across Chaudière Island in the Zibi development in Gatineau, according to Wall Space Gallery, which represents him. Rondeau referred questions about the works, and about Doxtater's and Hogg's roles, to Nettleton. The two shows differ in length. "Floral Emblems lasts only three weeks, and Meryl's lasts three months," Rondeau said. Nettleton's exhibition closes November 8, and both are open four days a week from noon to 4 pm.

More is coming around McMaster's show. L'Imagier plans "a range of cultural mediation activities for the general public and activities for schools in the region," Rondeau said. "We will soon unveil the dates and all the details of this programming on our social media and our website." Details will be posted at limagier.qc.ca.