A work by sculptor Victor Dallaire will have to undergo a fifth restoration in 14 years

The Agochin sculpture by sculptor Victor Dallaire, located on the shores of Ha! Ha! Bay, was damaged by water, causing part of the work to break. The City of Saguenay assures that it will be restored.

This will be the fifth restoration of this work in 14 years.

Contrary to what has been reported on social media, it was not vandalized. Rather, it was the weather that got the better of its tail. Indeed, according to sculptor David Dallaire, who is also Victor Dallaire’s grandson, the work is located in a location where there is a greater risk of degradation.

There are cracks, splits that are created, then with winter, the freezing, the thawing, there are cracks that have allowed water to enter and then to rot the interior of certain areas of the room.said the sculptor.

The latter recovered the missing portion of the wooden fish. It is now in his workshop.

According to him, it will be necessary to consider placing it indoors to protect it from the elements.

A reflection on the preservation of works

The City of Saguenay, which owns the sculpture, promises to restore it.

I have always recognized him as the best woodcarver in the world, nothing less. And rest assured that the work will be restored to its full conditionindicated the president of the borough of La Baie and municipal councilor, Raynald Simard.

She also wants to start thinking about how to preserve outdoor artistic works. This exercise particularly concerns the wooden works, of which there are ten in the city.

There are 430 works of public art in the territory, ten of which are made of wood and in all cases, these are works that require restoration eventually during their existence. […] It’s about what needs to be done with these ten wooden works to ensure that they’re going to be able to live a long time. And if the answer is to put the fish inside, well maybe that’s what’s going to have to be done.added for his part the spokesperson for the City of Saguenay, Dominic Arseneau.

For example, the work The roper overthrown, a wooden structure designed by Guy Blackburn will soon be restored. It has been located outside in the Chicoutimi Pulperie sector since 1996.

Paying tribute to his grandfather

David Dallaire also proposes transforming the former Abitibi-Consolidated plant site into a park in honour of his grandfather. The site is across from his workshop on Grande-Baie Sud Boulevard in La Baie, which was taken over by his grandson after his death in 2020.

[Il pourrait y avoir] a kind of open-air museum where there are sculptures, where people take the time to observe, with the fjord opposite. […] He would have been honored by that.added David Dallaire, who has already contacted the president of the borough of La Baie, Raynald Simard, on this subject.