A multidisciplinary exhibition blending memory, art, and narrative will open at the Salle Culturelle Alfred-Langevin in Huntingdon May 4.
The exhibition, entitled In the Footsteps of Mary Riley, is an immersive project inspired by the mysterious life of Mary Riley, who lived in Dundee in the 19th century.
Artists Nathalie Boisvert and George Krump, of Dundee and Huntingdon respectively, will take visitors along a pathway between themed stations combining historical fragments and fictional elements. Visitors will be encouraged to use texts, images, maps, and photographs to piece together the character of Mary Riley based on what has been said, forgotten, or reinvented.
According to Boisvert and Krump, this original and participatory approach questions the collective memory and the way in which stories, whether real or imagined, take shape in a region and shape our understanding of the past.
Nourished by research in the regional archives, field explorations, and elements of fiction, the exhibition oscillates between documentary and artistic creation. The public is invited to question: who was Mary Riley really, this mythical figure from the Dundee region – a formidable smuggler, an ambitious businesswoman? When the archives are not enough to answer these questions, Boisvert and Krump turn to their own imagination.
Their research and creative process drew on the collective memory of the population and benefited from the support of the Dundee Historical Committee.
The vernissage will take place on May 4 at 2 p.m. The exhibition will continue until June 1. The Salle Culturelle Alfred-Langevin is open free of charge on weekends from 1 to 4 p.m. Weekday visits can be reserved by contacting Évelyne Dubois at 450-264-5411, ext. 237. (SR)