From Matane, where I live, and my identity as a white woman, mother and artist, I question the meaning of home in a world of accelerating change, where imagination, slowness, longevity or immateriality emerge as acts of resistance. How do we live today?

The works presented in the underground space in TiohTià:ke / Mooniyang / Montréal highlight a wide array of experiences—both lived and imagined—by artists in various built environments. Here, the concept of home also represents an “underground” space within our bodies. It is manifested and inhabited through the hand of a child drawing or the mouth of a parent telling a story. Home is a shared experience that endures. For BANNS, this appears through the creation of quilts within the black communities of Nova Scotia. For Manon Chamberland and Eva Kaukai, it resonates in the throat singing of Kangirsuk in Nunavik. Ivanie Aubin-Malo’s art unfolds at the moment, drawing inspiration from the Wolastoqey culture, while Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko resists obscurity through her vibrant use of colour.

Now more than ever, living often leads to the destruction of habitats. Artists Éloi Perreault and Jeanne Castonguay-Carrière express their attachment to inhabited spaces and their feelings of powerlessness in the face of their eventual disappearance. Meanwhile, Barbara Iweins addresses issues of consumption and accumulation as reflected in the objects found within homes.

Throughout this exhibition, the presence of children is crucial. It emphasizes the importance of incorporating new perspectives in the decisions that shape our collective habitat. Some of the works are created with the involvement of the artists’ children, while many explore how play and spontaneity can transform our way of living. Works by Jacynthe Carrier, Andrew Rovenko, Blandine Soulage, Céline Lecomte, and Les Productions de L’Instable invite people of all ages to participate. I find it inspiring to observe these bodies engaging with their immediate environment, free from constraints other than the need to care for themselves. According to Annie-Kim Rainville and Alexandre Castonguay, it is essential to take the time to form meaningful connections with those who live nearby and with others we encounter along our journeys.

Philosopher Hartmut Rosa proposes the concept of resonance as a remedy for what he calls social acceleration. Human beings are increasingly alienated from the world and deprived of meaningful relationships. He suggests that resonance can be a solution to a world that is becoming increasingly deaf. Much like playing, achieving resonance requires vulnerability, openness, and a willingness to let go of control. How do we live today in a world that is accelerating? Many artists explore the idea of playing at living now, which could help facilitate that much-needed state of resonance.

Since incorporating writing into her practice in 2021, her poetry and critical texts have been featured in several art and literary journals in Quebec. She has curated group exhibitions exploring the relationship between habitat and art, whether through presenting art in the public space or by bringing together artistic proposals that question the forces at work in the act of inhabiting. Born in Matane, on the Mi’gmaq Gespe’gewa’gi, where she has been living with her family since 2013.