Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal 2013 - part 3
In 2013, the Montreal International Mosaicultures exhibition was at the Montreal Botanical Garden. The theme was Earth of Hope. With 48 spectacular works from 18 countries, the Botanical Garden was transformed into a wonderland from June 22 to September 29. The exhibition has been extended to October 6 for people to see the works awarded by the jury and by the public.
On June 9, 2013, I was fortunate enough to have a day pass; I was able to visit and photograph the mosaicultures as they were being assembled. Here are my best photos taken before, during, and after this sensational exhibition. The works are numbered from 1 to 48, as in the order of the plan in 2013.
I made eight projects of six works to show you all the horticultural and environmental creations of this exhibition. A ninth project will soon follow with the 25 award-winning works.
In this project you will see mosaicultures and works from : Chile, England & Canada.
13. Canada – Val D’Or – Near the City of Gold
This work of art of about twenty animals was realized by elementary students of the Commission scolaire de l'Or et des Bois de Val-d'Or. The artist and teacher Pierrette Lambert, who signed the concept, accompanied them in this magnificent work.
The city of Val-d'Or is located in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, in northern Quebec. This region has the largest area of vegetation in Canada.
"We shaped the material and used pollution bio-indicators such as the boreal lichen, which is extremely sensitive to air pollution and is found in abundance in the region. This choice is not insignificant: mosses can withstand long droughts and come back to life with a little rain."
Expositions Mosaiculture International | artiste = Pierrette Lambert
14. Chile – Easter Island – Guardians of the Island
Easter Island has a history that is both tragic and mysterious. It was around the year 400 that the first inhabitants arrived from the west of an island located more than 2000 km away. When the first Europeans arrived in 172, the island was still inhabited, but its inhabitants were fighting each other.
Easter Island contains 838 megaliths, known as Moai. These statues represent gods and ancestors of the islanders. It is not known how these blocks weighing up to 80 tons were moved. One hypothesis suggests that the statues were pulled upright with the help of ropes... and a lot of sweat.
If most of the Moai have their backs to the sea, seven of them look out to sea. According to the legend, the inhabitants would have immortalized in these statues the band of the seven discoverers of the island, who direct their gaze towards their Polynesian island of origin, to the west.
15. England – Sally Matthews – The Boars of Sally Island
Sally's Island Boars is the first environmental work presented at MIM2013.
Sally's Island Boars were born from the hands of this genius artist in the Montreal Botanical Garden, on the island at the entrance to the willow grove. Sally was inspired by the site to create and breathe life and movement into her five boars, using inert plant materials from the botanical garden. These new guardians of Sally's island can introduce visitors to the Forest Spirits who succeed them.
On her sculpture home page, Sally Matthews says:
"Everyone has their own reasons for using animals in art, but for me I always go back to the animals themselves for inspiration. My love of them, their different form, movement, smell and nature are the reasons for my making them. […] I want my work to remind people of our need for animals and the example their nature provides us with."
To read the whole text, go to this link: Sally Matthews home page sculpture
16. Canada – Montreal – Spirits of the Wood – The green Man
Green Man welcomes visitors at the tunnel entrance.
Green Man is a medieval pagan god who represents the spirit of trees. The foliage surrounding his face is often composed of oak leaves, the oak being an ancient sacred tree in Great Britain.
17. Canada – Montreal – Spirits of the Wood – Coventina
Coventina is a Celtic deity who watches over fairies and water nymphs. Goddess of rain, rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, oceans and water creatures, she is fond of reeds and water lilies found along river banks.
18. Canada – Montreal – Spirits of the Wood
Cernunnos and the Ram-Horned Serpent
Mosaiculture works require a sunlit environment in order to satisfy the lighting needs of the plants used. The willow plot is shaded and thus makes a suitable location in which are not usually used in mosaiculture practice. The MIM team relished this opportunity for experimentation and challenged itself with the creation of its piece Spirits of the Wood.
Comprising four separate mosaiculture works representing Celtic deities know to be custodians of Nature, Spirits of the Wood draws on the singular and magical cachet of the willow plot to great effect. The deities weave among the willows, the better to integrate themselves into this peaceful, majectic setting.
A tunnel made of vegetation ushers the visitors into this mysterious and serene space.
The Ram-Horned Serpent. The serpent is a universal symbol found in many different myths and cultures. Far removed from its pervasive association with evil, the serpent embodies immortality, infinity and the forces underpinning the creation of all life.
The Ram-horned Serpent is related to th Gallic god Cernunnos, who was widely worshipped across all of Celtic Europe and in Gaul, where he represented the cultural unification achieved by the Celts in the course of expanding their empire. Cernunnos is the god of fertility and embodies masculine energy.
In the botanical garden, he emerged from the Green Man's willow tree near the tunnel meanders across the site to end up in the left hand of Cernunnos.
Cernunnos is a very ancient deity, quite popular until the second century A.D.*
Master of the animal kingdom, Cernunnos is the god of fertility, virility, wealth and the forest, and the gardian of the gate to the afterworld.
Cernunnos is seen brandishing stag antlers and carries the Ram-horned Serpent in his left hand.
* AD (or A.D.) is an abbreviation for the Latin expression "Anno Domini", which translates to "the Year of Our Lord", and equivalent to C.E. (the Common Era).
In the summer of 2022, for the first time, the Montreal International Mosaicultures exhibition
will be in Quebec City, at Bois-de-Coulonge Park.
