A beautiful year for eyes and ears in Saguenay

Musique

Let’s start with the Music. Because there is a lot to say and remember. Too much, even, to drag on further in this preamble.

Returns

The feedback has been spectacular and varied on the music scene. We only have to think of Philippe Brach, back in force after four years of absence, to present the album to us The people we love. To the Dales Hawerchuk, who just jumped on the ice for a thunderous Five-way attackafter eight years on the bench. Or even to the Galaxie group, which several months earlier also put an end to a multi-year drought, with an end of the rock ‘n’ roll world.

Strictly speaking, we could include in this select group the members of Karkwa, for whom 2024 will have been another reunion, particularly with Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.

Ascents

There have been a number of meteoric rises this year. The Alma quintet Marie Céleste, for example, made its progressive rock resonate throughout Quebec, and the (semi-regional) formation DVTR traveled to Europe and Asia with its inflammable punk – even being crowned twice earlier only one at the last GAMIQ. While others, like Douance and Patrice Côté, have launched a promising first opus.

Then there are Sandra Contour, Cure-Pipe and Melissa Fortin who continued to make a name for themselves.

Big names

Speaking of names, there have been some big ones recently in the Kingdom. Like Bryan Adams, who took Chicoutimi on a trip, as part of Rythmes du Monde, as well as TALK, Shaggy and Elvis Crespo, who also came to tour the Port Zone, as part of the same programming.

The summer even saw Rise Against pass, as part of the Bières du monde, after a spring marked by the visit of Styx to Alma, in front of 3,800 enthusiasts – despite the discontent aroused by the move of the show from the Multisport Center to the outdoor stage from Place Festivalma.

Births and Birthdays

Events have come to the world in 2024. Like the SaGuit Festival, an event entirely dedicated to the guitar, which had its very first edition in November. Or the Gawafest, a Jeanne festival imagined by the group Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project.

And if some, like Les Grandes Veillées, had to take a step aside by taking a break, others had the chance to celebrate their longevity. 35 years for Jonquière in music, 50 years for Île du Repos, 60 years for the Chicoutimi Music School, 75 years for Jeunesses Musicales, 40 years for the Tadoussac Song Festival, five years for Les Denises du Lac, and two years each, for The cult of Port-Alfred in La Baie and La Quête in Alma. Two events dedicated to heritage conservation and the promotion of emerging local music. We wish them a long life!

Prix

How moving it was to see Sara Dufour go on stage at ADISQ, to receive a very first Félix in her career! And how impressive it was to see the very multidisciplinary Soleil Launière collect two nominations for this gala, considering that the artist from Mashteuiatsh had just won the Francouvertes, in addition to two literary prizes at the region’s Book Fair.

There are also prizes that we win away from the galas. Like this brand new nine-foot Steinway piano, worth more than $300,000, received by the Saguenay Conservatory. Or this title of musical director and conductor that Jean-Michel Malouf’s successor will eventually receive, during a major selection process initiated this year.

Visual arts

Visual arts lovers are always well served in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, where each year, artists and galleries continue to risk, dare, evolve… and even export. 2024 was no exception to this rule, bringing us its share of unique exhibitions and good news.

Departure of a great

But 2024 has not only given. She also took, taking away the 97-year-old artist Jérémie Giles last September. A painter and sculptor who has had the time to leave an indelible mark in the region – notably with more than 80 exhibitions – after having established himself there several years ago.

International influence

A welcoming land for many artists, the region often exports itself internationally.

The L’Art de vivre gallery, for example, left its Carré Davis in Arvida in September for a trip of a few days to New York. The idea was to allow seven local artists, including owner Frédérique Girard, to exhibit their work at the Affordable Art Fair, an event held in the Big Apple.

The painter Louis Julien did not have to fly anywhere, but his work was still the subject of significant recognition beyond the Saguenay borders. The painter having learned in February that his name would appear in the Art Collector’s Guide, and that his works would thus be the subject of an international listing from now on.

Speaking of international, Chicoutimian Charles-Frédérick Ouellet became the first Quebec winner in 25 years at the World Press Photo in April, he who was able to capture in images the devastation caused by the forest fires in Quebec during the summer previous.

Against all odds

The arts community, in the broad sense, however, remains a place full of pitfalls and challenges to overcome. The call for financial support from the Le Lobe artist center, at the very beginning of the year, was intended to be an important reminder of this.

While Annie Bélisle’s real snub to cancer, with a touching exhibition, had something to inspire in January, at L’art de vivre. Just like this tribute to his daughter Dominique Gobeil, whose memory was ensured by the creation of a scholarship in her name, at the Cégep de Jonquière.

Important milestones

Some important milestones were reached and celebrated this year.

Including the 15 years of the Zoom Photo Festival, which were highlighted by an edition structured around Independences; the 20th wave of acquisitions of the UQAC art collection, which for two decades has proudly displayed the creations of artists developed within its walls; as well as the busy career of the painter Daniel T. Tremblay, who was the subject of a beautiful retrospective at La Pulperie.

We could even afford to include in this section the UBCHIHICA digital arts center, which through high-speed development, since 2021 on Racine Street, opened its doors to the general public in April.

Square exhibitions

There have been too many exhibitions in 2024 to do a complete overview here. But let me still list some of the proposals that struck me.

Among other highlights, let us note the luminous window on the universe of Mathieu Valade, in a Virtual Space more colorful than ever. The jump into the dark mining past of Thetford Mines, courtesy of Stéphanie Morissette, also in the Bang Center room. The demonstration of Sylvie Poitras’ know-how, beyond the hockey masks that made her famous, at Gallery 5. The epic and retro quest of Mathieu Cardin, under a mysterious and false pseudonym, at the Lobe. Sylvie Lajoie’s touching family album, woven from the thread, at the CNE. As well as the homage to Télétubbies and Motel Princesse by Marie-Pierre Gagnon, at L’Oeuvre de l’Autre.