New reflections on being an active citizen in Quebec

What is a social movement? How do we engage with each other across linguistic, cultural, and interpersonal differences? That’s part of what the travelling exhibit Quebec on the Move looks to explore as it focuses on social movements in the province’s official language-minority communities.

The Quebec on the Move exhibit will be at the university from March 4 to March 18 and is organized by the Centre for Community Organizations (COCo) in collaboration with Concordia’s Office of Community Engagement. Canadian Heritage also contributed funding. The exhibit launches with a vernissage and 5-à-7 event on Thursday, March 5.

“There are many ways to be involved in social movements,” says Eryn Fitzgerald, Concordia’s community relations coordinator. “The exhibit offers a glimpse of the breadth and depth of homegrown movements and asks visitors to consider: ‘What does that mean for me?’”

The exhibit’s main attraction is an immersive installation that features a 20-minute video montage of interviews between 22 community organizers who “move Quebec.” The video follows social movements in Quebec from the 1960s to 2010, telling stories about the Chinese head tax redress movement, initiatives to reform social housing and healthcare, the feminist movement, and the experience of American Sign Language communities in Montreal. The full-length interviews will be made available online in March.

The community organizers featured in the exhibit are all connected to Quebec’s official language-minority communities, but Fitzgerald says it’s not only centered on English speakers.

“The exhibit includes people who might not consider themselves part of this group,” says Fitzgerald. “It’s not exclusively about English speakers but about the diversity of people who have contributed to Quebec social movements.”

At the opening vernissage, people will have the opportunity to mingle with the participants of the project, along with its creators. The exhibit represents a collective effort. Concordia’s own Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling helped train interviewers, while Montreal-based artist Steve Topping created the installation.

In addition to the vernissage and main exhibit, Concordia has organized complementary events that explore social movements connected with the university. These include a panel on biking in Montreal with the School of Community and Public Affairs, celebrating the feminist video collective, Group Intervention Vidéo, with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and a presentation on the Art Hives movement by Concordia Professor, Janis Timm-Bottos.

Concordia is Quebec on the Move’s second stop. It will be on display at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke until Monday, March 2, and will be at the Morrin Centre in Quebec City from Monday, March 23, to Saturday, March 28.

Quebec on the Move is taking place from Wednesday, March 4, to Wednesday, March 18, with a vernissage on Thursday, March 19, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the Atrium of the J.W. McConnell Library Building (1400 De Maisonneuve W.) on the Sir George Williams Campus. It’s free and open to the public.

Check out the full schedule of events for Quebec on the Move.