Nouvelle aube (New Dawn)
Above this forest, the sky is made of glass windows. Tall trees grow, surrounded by nets, ventilation ducts, faux horizons drawn on the walls. The temperature is regulated, protected from what is going on outside. We are kept at a distance for a while so we can rebuild, reconfigure, rethink. As such, the forest offers us a period of rest; much like a garden, it is a place to wait for the next beginning. And then the doors swing open, and we can again move freely through the hallways, climb the stairs. We will finally be able to see what lights might emerge in this world that we’ve composed from scratch.
After having documented two years of renovations to the Montréal Biodome, Clara Lacasse examines the emotional relationship we have with this institution today, its architecture, and the life it houses. Certainly it was something of a crazy dream to create and maintain such a universe; Lacasse presents a critical view of the Biodome while scrupulously avoiding easy judgments and moralizing. Rather, she asks us to look critically at ourselves and to reflect upon the role that we can play within our own ecosystems, in order to imagine other futures.
This exhibition form part of the Nos accueils (Our Hospitalities) programming cycle, brought to life by hands that reach out, by living images, by roots in movement. These roots not only connect us to where we are, they also show us new paths to take, and ask us to welcome what is to come.
