For this special commission, Anishinaabe-French artist Caroline Monnet created a monumental photographic group portrait featuring eight Indigenous women and a child posing in an enchanted forest. The image’s harmonious rhythms, colours, and natural forms echo the visual language of the nineteenth and twentieth-century Art Nouveau movement.
Titled Wàbigon, meaning “a flower is blooming” in Anishinaabemowin, this work honours the profound impact of Abenaki filmmaker and storyteller Alanis Obomsawin, the subject of the exhibition in the MAC’s main space. For Monnet, Obomsawin embodies spring – the peak flowering season – symbolizing her profound influence on subsequent generations of Indigenous women.
This is the sixth work in a series that Monnet began in 2016 in which she critically revisits major historical and art movements through an Indigenous lens. In these photographic and video works, she invites women who are leaders in their fields to reclaim spaces that had previously been forbidden to their ancestors.
In Wàbigon, as in her previous portraits, the models look confidently, defiantly, and directly into the camera. Monnet states, “They are the leaders of tomorrow: strong, Indigenous, and proud of it. Together, they form an army of possibilities and honour all those who came before them.” An important aspect of Monnet’s portraits is her focus on francophone Indigenous women living in Québec. These women are profoundly marginalized, face systemic violence, and lack the robust Indigenous networks that support their anglophone counterparts across Canada and globally.
Portrayed on the mural (left to right) are Acho Dene Koe chef and artist Swaneige Bertrand with her young daughter Aja-Eyal Ferron; the artist’s sister, Anishinaabe-French interdisciplinary performance artist Émilie Monnet; Caroline Monnet herself; Guinean-Wendat dancer and choreographer Aïcha Bastien N’Diaye; Eeyou (Cree) writer and artist Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau; Atikamekw visual artist Catherine Boivin; Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie Isaac; and Innu soprano opera singer Elisabeth St-Gelais.
This mural is a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) that closely aligns with Monnet’s cinematic approach: every aspect of the image is closely considered, from hair and makeup to costumes, as well as the elaborate botanical set, which is wholly composed of native plants and butterfly species.
Ondji awaso kesháwádj ijichigewin, Anishinábe-Wemitigójí mazinibíhigekwe Caroline Monnet ogígíjenindán kichi mishág mazinázowin mámawíhidig nishwáswe Anishinábekweg ashidj abinódjínsh mazinázowadj indaje kwenádj megweyákwáng. Awasa mazinibíhigan tesisin peshábígizinádjigan, enándeg ashidj wíyagi kesháwádjichiganan paswewekinágwad inwewinan apích 19 ashidj 20 mitásomidina pibón Mazinibíhige Oshki Mamádjíwimagag iye.
Ijinikáde Wàbigon, ikidomagad ‘ságábigonik’ pij Anishinábemowin, awaso inanokíwin apítenindágozidj Wábanakí mazinátesidjigan ashidj eyádisokedj ikwe, Alanis Obomsawin, awaswa tibádidágoze ondaje MAC pakesáyang. Ondji Monnet, owa Obomsawin mindjiminán sígwan—apích wábigon’n piniskwábigoníg—ijinágod wín ondamitáwin kákíjitodj kíwábandahiwe mikan ondji níbinaweg kodagag Anishinábekweg.
Mí awasó ningodwáswi mazinibíhigewin mámawi kodagan Monnet kámádjíkang pij 2016 kidji wewenind wábandang maya ánikeyádjimowinan ashidj inanokíwinan nakag Anishinábe oshkínjigon. Awasónon mazinázowinag ashidj mazinisechiganan, owíkomán ikwewan kanígánídjig ondamitáwinawán kidji odápinamowadj tawa kakibáhamigogádeg pinawígo mámawi wínawá ánikemishomisinábaneg.
Ondaji Wábigon, násáb kodakeg mazinázowinag, ogo ikwewag inábiwag kwayakwenindamog, kipíwidizowag ashidj kwayakogábawig mazinádjiganing. Monnet ikido, ‘Wínawá ogo kidanígáníg wábang: mashkawizíg, Anishinábeg, ashidj apítenindagozig. Mámawi, odayánáwá kinawe níbina tibenindjigewinan ashidj kijewadjchigeg ondji ogog chibwámashi wínawá.’ Ká-kichi-inenindagwag awedigeg Monnet omazinibíhigawinan wín nakág ondji ogo Anishinábekweg wemitigójímowadj ebidjig Kebákong. Ogo ikwewag keget niboziwag, nagishkánawa níbina mígádiwin ashidj nóndeseg mizimizide Anishinábe kikenindjigewin ayámowadj wídókázowin igeg áganeshag wídókawáganog Kánádáng ashidj enigwakamigág akí.
Mazinázowadj ondaje (namanj ako kichinindj) awasogog Acho Dene Koe chíbákwe ikwe ashidj mazinibíhigedj Swaneige Bertrand mámawi odánisan; mazinibíhige ikwe oshímenjan, Anishinábe-Wemitigójí ahijíkazo mazinibíhige, Émilie Monnet; Caroline Monnet; Guinea-Wendat kánímidj ashidj nanda-ijichige Aïcha Bastien N’Diaye; Kinistinó ojibíhige ashidj mazinibíhige ikwe Virginia Pésémapeo Bordeleau; Atikamekw minwábi mazinibíhige Catherine Boivin; Kíwedino nigamo-ojibíhigekwe Elisapie Isaac; ashidj Kíwedino nigamokwe Elisabeth St-Gelais.
Awaso mazinibíhigewin Gesamtkunstwerk (kakina mazinibíhige inanokíwin) iye sesik mámawi Monnet omazinátesidjigan inanokíwin: kakina wagidjehí awasowa mazinázowin peshodj tibewigendagod, mínisisan ashidj kwenádjiwi kaye wíyagi-agwinán, násáb gaye inan apítenindágwad netáwiging, iye kigimiziwe pagwadji netáwiging ashidj memengwe ayandaswayag tawa.
Translated to Anishinaabemowin.
Biography
Caroline Monnet (Anishinaabe/French) is a multidisciplinary artist from Outaouais. She studied sociology and communications at the University of Ottawa and the University of Granada (Spain). Her work has been featured at the Whitney Biennial in New York, the Toronto Biennial of Art, the KØS Museum (Denmark), the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the National Gallery of Canada. Solo exhibitions include the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Arsenal Contemporary (New York), the Centre d’art international de Vassivière (France), and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. Her work is included in numerous collections in North America and in the permanent UNESCO collection in Paris. In 2020, Monnet received the Prix Pierre-Ayot and was a finalist for the Sobey Art Award; she is also the recipient of the Merata Mita Fellowship of the Sundance Institute, and the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s REVEAL Indigenous Art Awards; she was recently named a Companion of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec.
Monnet is based in Montréal and is represented by Blouin Division gallery.
The artist would like to acknowledge and credit
Art Direction Caroline Monnet
Models Aïcha Bastien-N’Diaye, Swaneige Bertrand, Catherine Boivin, Aja-Eyal Ferron, Elisapie Isaac, Caroline Monnet, Émilie Monnet, Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, Elisabeth St-Gelais.
Photography Jean-François Lemire
First Assistant Mathis De Vriese
Photo Editing Audrée Desnoyers and Marie-Claude Lépine
Production Coordinator at Shoot Studio Carmen Elias
Beauty Direction, Makeup & Hair Julie Cusson
Make-up Assistance Charlie Manning, Gabbie McGuire
Hair Styling Assistance Ivana Gentile, Marilyne Ratelle
Costume Design Yso
Costume Design Assistance Dara Bissonnette, Gabrielle Croteau
Set Design Louisa Schabas
Set Assistance Elliot Elliot, Anouk Berney
Floral Artist (Flower Artist) Audrey St-Laurent
Floral Assistance (Flower Artist) Michaël Ho
Entomologist Jean-Benoît Duval
Project Coordination and Stage Management Catherine Sasseville
Stage Management Raúl Aguilar Canela
A special thank you to Julie Richer
Caroline Monnet wishes to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its support, as well as Shoot Studio.
