V E B A H O O D

Montréal, 2000 © Velibor Božović

About a decade ago, after I “picked-up” photography, this was one of the first pictures I made where I felt that strange and vague satisfaction with what was going on in the frame. I came across it today and it struck me how old it looks, not because the black and white and grain (usual suspects), but because of the content it carries. At first it looks as if it could have been taken yesterday but much has changed in a decade. Six people in this picture and none with a mobile phone in hand, no laptops or any gadgets in sight. People were reading papers, occasionally a game of chess (here, behind the guy with glasses) would be played, and a good cup of coffee enjoyed. Or, simply, being lost in though sometimes counted as a fun activity too. No, it is not nostalgia.

Miroir, 2004 © Raymonde April (with permission)

Last Friday Montreal’s gallery Les Territoires held an interesting event, an artist and curator talk with Raymonde April and Eduardo Ralickas, where the two engaged in a very informative discussion on a nature of collaboration in regards to their project Équivalences 1-4. Of course, as always, the talk went much further into the labyrinth of art related subjects. Some of the teachers/artists from Concordia University and UQAM were there to contribute to the discussion.

The room was full (it is a small room though) and the organizers were, naturally, happy with the number of people in attendance. One question regarding the attendance is still on my mind: how came every photo student in this city did not come to attend? There were about a dozen Concordia students and a handful of UQAM students in the room. For the majority of the rest, was there really anything better to do than to grab the opportunity to listen, and ask questions, and even to offer and test your own opinions, with the top class artist and a curator with whom she collaborated? There is something to be learned from someone who is able to mount 3 different exhibitions simultaneously within the same city.

I hope that the people behind Les Territoires will continue to bring forward artist willing to speak about their work. Also, photography gets much more exciting once it steps out of it’s often claustrophobic world and I hope Les Territoires, and other spaces, will show more of the works where photographers collaborated with people of different vocations (writers, filmmakers, historians etc.); there lies a chance to bring some fresh faces to these events. Certainly, the talk with Raymonde April and Eduardo Ralickas was a right step in that direction. If you missed the talk but still want to see the work, two out of three exhibits can still be seen: in Galerie Donald Browne (until Feb 13th) and in Occurrence until March 6th.