Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), Memories Unravelled, 2021. Indigenous Art Centre, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Government of Canada. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), Memories Unravelled, 2021. Indigenous Art Centre, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Government of Canada. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
The MMFA is proud to present the first solo museum exhibition in Canada of Caroline Monnet, a multidisciplinary artist of Anishinaabe and French heritage whose art explores questions of identity.
Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Photo MBAM, Denis Farley
The works in Ninga Mìnèh, some of which are very recent, evoke both metaphorically and materially the inequalities in living conditions experienced by Indigenous communities in Canada. In most cases, reserve housing was hastily built with cheap materials: from the outside, they often appear shoddy or uncompleted. Families are crammed together, without the barest of comforts. The exhibition Ninga Mìnèh (Anishinaabemowin for “promise”) is a call to authorities to finally offer First Nations people decent, dignified, pleasant living conditions.
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), We Shape Our Homes and Then Our Homes Shape Us, 2021, embroidery on sill gasket. Collection of the artist. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
To highlight this untenable precarity of their situation, Monnet uses singular, raw construction materials, tar paper and membrane insulation. These symbolize the isolation communities living on reserves have been and continue to be subjected to. Despite the grimness of the chosen materials, the artist succeeds in creating vastly poetic works of arresting beauty. There is a tension that emanates from them, reflecting the disparity between their polished surfaces and the stark reality of some Indigenous communities.
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), AKI (Land), 2021. Collection of the artist. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
About the artist
Caroline Monnet is a multidisciplinary artist from Outaouais, Quebec. Her work has been included in international exhibitions and collections, such as those of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, National Gallery of Canada, RBC Royal Bank, and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.
Winner of a 2020 Sobey Art Award and the 2020 Prix Pierre-Ayot, Caroline Monnet is a major figure in contemporary art in Quebec and Canada. In her practice, the artist revisits schemas and canons of art history and history more broadly.
Caroline Monnet. Photo Ulysse del Drago
Videos
In the media
Une combinaison de beauté et de profondeur, d’usage artisanal et de déclinaison contemporaine.
La Presse
[There’s] a surprising sense of lightness, and life.
The Montreal Gazette
Riches de sens et de beauté sont les œuvres de Caroline Monnet au MBAM. […] Elle dénonce les conditions de vie des Autochtones tout en captant la splendeur sous la désolation.
Caroline Monnet est une magicienne, elle réussit à transformer des matériaux de construction en œuvres d’art saisissantes.
TV5 Monde, Le Journal International
C’est la première fois qu’elle présente une exposition solo dans un musée canadien et c’est une entrée absolument fracassante.
ICI Radio-Canada Première, Tout un matin
C’est magnifique et c’est parfaitement déroutant [...] J’ai adoré cette exposition.
ICI Radio-Canada Première, Pénélope
L’artiste montréalaise se démarque par et avec ce qu’elle a dans les tripes, en parlant avec l’héritage des siens, en l’honorant. […] Son envolée émeut, c’est indéniable.
Avenues.ca
Credits and curatorial team
An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Guest curator: Sylvie Lacerte
Presented by:
Official Sponsor:
With support from:
Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Photo MBAM, Denis Farley
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), We Shape Our Homes and Then Our Homes Shape Us, 2021, embroidery on sill gasket. Collection of the artist. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), AKI (Land), 2021. Collection of the artist. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Caroline Monnet. Photo Ulysse del Drago
