From January 22 to April 16, 2023

Margrethe Ulvik’s work highlights the links between people and places, illustrated by the variety of techniques employed in the textile arts. Born in Norway, she has been living in Estrie since 1998. The artist was interested in the artistic and craft traditions of her homeland from a very young age and she expressed herself through painting, drawing and also weaving.

In the installation Mouvements et dentelles (Movement and Lace) she addresses the phenomenon of migration and the vulnerability it can instill in people. One example is her series called Résonnance du Fleuve (River Renonance) – images created as a result of her stay in Kamouraska, a picturesque village steeped in tradition and migratory tales, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. By creating collages and combining different materials on paper, she illustrates the versatility of the materials she works with, showing how they can be used in an entirely different context from the norm.

The Cultural Center also hosts the installation La laine est un matériau nomade, imprégné de culture, tel un jardin portable – (roughly translated as “Wool is linked to the particular culture it comes from in a similar way to portable gardens”). It is an installation consisting of wool weavings, soundscapes and photographs. The installation is the result of an eight-week artist residency at REDA in Valcourt, where Ulvik held workshops attended by 12 women – Quebecers and recent immigrants from as far afield as Morocco, China and the Philippines. The goal of the workshops was to bring fellow artists together, to discover the creative potential of working with wool.

Participants :
Lina Xu, Bernadette Tare, Sophie Lapointe, Claire Mercado, Carelle Mercado, Marie, Claude Robert, Séverine Cassier, Aicha Riak, Layla Chafi, Valérie Fortier, Nadia Morin, Shanelle Sauvé, Carol Pauze, Kari Anne Sauvé et Marie Edith Cuerrier.

Soundscape composition :
Joey Zaurrini

Photographic documentation :
Marie-Claude Meilleur