Max and Iris Stern International Symposium 18
Usine C
Elements from the multimedia installation of Barbara Steinman, Borrowed Scenery, 1987, Collection Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. Photo: MACM © Barbara Steinman

Max and Iris Stern International Symposium 18

Connections in the 1980s: The Internationalization of Québec Art (1975–1992)

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is pleased to present the next Max and Iris Stern International Symposium at Usine C, in collaboration with the magazine Spirale. Focusing on the artistic production of the “long” 1980s in Québec (1975–92) and on the discourses and institutions that accompanied it, the symposium aims to open new avenues for reflection based on recent work and to fill in some gaps in the history of this particularly productive decade.

In keeping with the international perspective of the Max and Iris Stern symposiums, this edition will address certain significant aspects of the 1980s in Québec not as simple markers punctuating a linear and self-contained history, but as a set of complex “nodes” whose rhizomatic ramifications extend well beyond the local territory, engaging the intervention of multiple (human, cultural, sociopolitical, economic, media, institutional, and other) factors. The event will focus on different networks of connections in order to understand how this pivotal moment has contributed to the development of important vectors of internationalization of Québec art before the decisive threshold of the emergence of the Internet.

In an open and unifying spirit, the symposium will bring together people who have shaped our recent art history, as well as artists and art historians of subsequent generations who are rethinking the heritage of this period. In this sense, it will also pave the way for the inaugural programming of the new MAC, planned for 2028, which will present a major exhibition that puts in dialogue contemporary Québec art and major historical works from the museum’s collection.

With the participation of Vincent Bonin, Geneviève Cadieux, Louise Déry, Ji-Yoon Han, Johanne Lamoureux, Marie J. Jean, Lani Maestro, Diana Nemiroff, Alayn Ouellet, Chantal Pontbriand, Kitty Scott, Sherry Simon, Guy Sioui Durand, Johanne Sloan, and other guests.

In partnership with