Local Expert
Gerald Alexis
My name is Gerald and after traveling around the world, after living in various cities in Europe, North America and the Caribbean, I made my home in Quebec City. I am an art historian involved…
My name is Gerald and after traveling around the world, after living in various cities in Europe, North America and the Caribbean, I made my home in Quebec City. I am an art historian involved in contemporary art but have in recent years developed a great interest in the world’s architectural heritage. I do consulting work for private as well as state institutions and from time to time I work as an independent curator of exhibition. I do a lot of writing and find that, with its rich and diverse artistic and cultural attractions, Quebec is very inspiring for me.
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Last December 31st, Quebec City ended brilliantly the year of its 400th anniversary. In spite of the very cold weather (-20C with a -30windchill factor), in spite of the fact that the entire celebrations were broadcasted live on television, an estimated twenty five thousand people attended the various activities planned for that evening. Three sites were chosen for the mega party: The Georges V Square (right in front of the Armoury that burned down about a year ago with extensions on Grande Allée, the heart of the night life in the city) nearby Place d'Youville and exiting Avenue Cartier. Giant screens allowed all to watch the official closing ceremony, the salute to the 400th anniversary, a video montage of the major moments of the year of celebration, and the magnificent performance of the four hundred member choir, offering a medley of songs, traditional and taken from the repertoire of contemporary singing stars like our famous Celine and, of course the Beatles reminding us of the very appreciated participation of Paul McCartney in these anniversary celebrations. And to top it all, at midnight the sky was filled with the vibrant colors of a spectacular firework display. And the party continued on till dawn.
The show that started it all, on December 31, 2007 was a disappointment. The show that closed it all made up for it and actually may serve as an example for the celebrations of new years to come.
The Cirque du Soleil is now internationally famous (eleven millions tickets sold all over the world). The reason for its immense success is undoubtedly the way it has combined different genres and its upcoming show, paying tribute to Elvis Presley, will surely be a blockbuster. It has not only broken the geographical boundaries by its performances, it has also done so by the stars and performers they hire. Yet it is still very much attached to its origins: Quebec and Quebecois are proud of it and have, once more, expressed their pride this year during the performances given by the company that will be celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary in 2009.
Along the same lines, the Cirque Eloise is also doing well both locally and internationally. Created in 1993, it will be performing in Quebec City from the 2dn to the 4th of January. Their Nebbia has already been presented 350 times in various countries.
It is interesting to note that both of these companies have been created in Quebec, and although they hire performers from other countries - the contortionist from Paraguay now with the Cirque Eloise, is the most recent example - many come from the Ecole du Cirque de Quebec, a non profit organisation created in 1981 and whose mission is to promote circus art and to foster the mergence of a new generation of artists. And in deed they have done so. In Quebec, it is now common to see ballet companies hire circus performers and circuses seek stage actors and contemporary dancers and choreographers.
With all of that in mind, wouldn't it be fair to say that Quebec has reinvented the circus?
As we have reported earlier this year, the Museum of fine Arts of Quebec opened the anniversary celebrations with an exhibition of works of artists born in or having passed through Quebec and have left their imprint of the artistic life of the city. They were artists of the past. The museum has not made room for artists of the present who, again are from here or have studied here or again have spent some time in our walls.
Some of the works exhibited deal with pop culture and behind their often humoristic aspect, they in fact tell of the failings of our society, the complexity and contradictions of our aspirations and dreams. Others deal with the material, its diversity, its plastic and formal qualities. Often done with refuse materials, these assemblages bring testimony to the extraordinary creativity of the artists through techniques close to that of the do-it-yourselfer. The human body is the focus of other works: the body, its imprint, the traces left by it, its memory. It is object on the one hand and subject on the other. It is material at times and immaterial at others. Finally, the notion of space is dealt with in a whole series of works: natural spaces, spaces that are constructed, intimate spaces all spaces that affect our daily experiences and our relations with our environment.
The performance, a contemporary art form that is big here in Quebec city, has not been ignored. Scheduled for the 16th and 17th of January and again during the month of April, artists, individually or collectively, will stand up to this creative process based of space, time, movement and bodies in action. These performances will be offered at no cost to the public.
A must see!
Well, it's one of the latest game that can be defined as a high-tech treasure hunt that one pays plays with the use of a GPS. Goecaching is now a worldwide phenomenon with over seven hundred thousand geocachers around the globe. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache's existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the geocache that can at time be a geocoin. As an organisation concerned with its community and the environment, the Society for Urban Patrimony of Quebec (SPUQ) has issued a geocoin, special trackable coin created as a signature item of Maison Chevalier, a small museum dedicated to urban life in Quebec. It thus is an active partaker in the geocaching phenomenon.
But aside form encouraging its international aspect, the SPUQ uses the geocaching idea as an educational tool to tell young and old stories about the city of Québec, its history and its traditions. On a regular basis, school groups take part in these activities and so do adults. Especially for the holidays, a series of geocaching within the Royal Square are planned. You can play the game with your own GPS, play it with a map only or do it with a group accompanied by a costumed guide who will assist you in using the GPS device. It's loads of fun guarantied.
For more information contact Maison Chevalier at 418-692-5550 or at civu@sympatico.ca
The whole thing started this week-end in and around Royal Square in the lower part of the old city. The entire program has been established by the Museum of civilisation along with sister organisations like the Centre of Interpretation of the Royal Square and is intended for children of all ages, after all, aren't we all children when Christmas comes.
In one of the plays scheduled, secrets about Santa are revealed by one of his elves. What could that secret be? Helves will also hold workshop for kids every day until Janaury 4th and last but not least, Hansel and Gretel will fly in from Germany to participate in a musical performed every day from the 27th till the 30th of December. How about that!
When come the holidays in Quebec, it's time for the turlute, the traditional music with a hint of Celtic. Along with the strings and/or the accordion, the typical instruments are a couple of spoons and a pair of feet taping to mark the rhythm and to get people dancing at these end of the year gigs. . Well, if you want to learn how to play the spoons, a unique opportunity will be given at the centre of interpretation of Place Royale every afternoon from 12 to 4:30 PM, and this until December 30th.
Simple Plan is a Canadian rock group very popular throughout the whole country, with some success on the international market. They have been together since the 1990's but took on this unusual name recently, in 2002. Although they are based in Montreal, they have given several performances here in Quebec City, their most recent one being something worth mentioning specially. The group, because of their first studio album «No pads, no helmet... just balls», has since been associated with hockey. This week-end, they have paired with the Ramparts (our local hockey team) to put on an exceptional show that delighted an audience estimated at over nine thousand people. I did not attend the event but shared with my teenage friends who did their enthusiasm.
The whole thing was apparently played on the ice of the Pepsi Coliseum here in town. It was a blend of hockey and music with the musicians putting on their skates and mingling with stars of the arena like Patrick Roy. What I did not know is that one member of the group: Jean-Michel Anctil, has an organisation here that helps dropouts get back in line. Amazing! But what is more extraordinary is that the proceeds from this show, a total of 100.000$, is going to charities involved with helping young people like them with problems ranging from suicide to poverty to drug addiction. What a wonderful example, particularly at this time of the year.