The first retrospective of the mail art project that I have been leading since 1997 was presented at the Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto from November 19, 2020 to April 1, 2021. POST L’ART! is both an exhibition, an artist residency and an adventure of creating postal works offered to the community with the aim of breaking the isolation of people in these difficult times.
THE EXHIBITION
Since 1997, I have produced a monthly series of mailings intended for a restricted group of collectors-subscribers. The whole embodies a memory under construction, a process that takes place over time.
450 people took part in the 34 mail art creation workshops that I have led in the community throughout the project (schools, youth center, organizations offering services to homeless women, people living with a physical or intellectual disability, etc). 225 people created postal art pieces in 8 community organizations. 126 mail art creation kits were distributed to families to allow the creation of mail art pieces in the comfort of their homes. Just over 300 mail art pieces created by workshop participants were distributed to residents of senior centers and community organizations in the neighborhood.
A group of teenagers from the Youth Center created original cards for people who receive services from the Montreal Association for Intellectual Disabilities. The emotion was vivid when we gave them the cards, a little before Christmas. People living with an intellectual disability have, in return, created cards for the boys at the Youth Center.
THE RETROSPECTIVE ON TOUR
The retrospective Postez L’Art! is just like its monthly crations : made to travel!
Proposals are currently under study, here and abroad, in order to present the entire corpus of my postal works in the concept of an ever-evolving retrospective. So it’s a story to follow!