Countermonument:

MONUMENT À ROBERT BURNS
G. A. LAWSON, 1930
DORCHESTER SQUARE
45.49952, -73.57142

The area that is currently known as Dorchester
Square is a public space which has, in recent times,
undergone a significant transformation. An example
of colonial organization of space, interactions in
the square have been designed to use constraints to
control the flow of the passerby. Benches, paths and
tree placement contribute to an experience which
radiates from the centre point, outwards. Within this
square, a memorial to Scottish poet Robert Burns
has stood since 1930.

The context surrounding its creation is very closely
linked to the Anglophone elite which once dominated
the cultural and economic fabric of the city and,
with the tearing down of the nearby John A. Mac-
Donald monument in August of 2020, this proposed
countermonument is motivated by the opportunity
to explore a sense of balance and harmony, between
our history and our future.

The complexity of its siting within the square
and the surrounding community is not seen as
a challenge, but rather an occasion to create a new
experience which celebrates the deeper connection
we share with one another.

Through the simple act of truncation and subsequent
removal of the figure from its plinth, the countermonument
creates a modular space, which seeks
to empower communities to connect with Robert
Burns in a more substantial sense. This is accomplished
in several different ways:

The visual hierarchy of the monument is disassembled,
and the figure is brought to the human scale.

Secondly, an excerpt of the Burns’ work, translated from
18th century Scottish brogue into modern French, will
be affixed to each component of the countermonument.

As a result of this, an expanded sensory connection
of touch and feeling is fostered, to further amplify
the words and the legacy of the artist. An intuitive
invitation to touch the words, as well as the bronze
casting itself, is invoked; a call to feel the materiality
of the monument, which had been previously kept
segregated from the experience.

The existing plinth, the only component of local
design and provenance, becomes the new focal point,
offering those who wish the chance to contemplate
this in the arena of the square itself.

The proposed countermonument also transparently
accepts the ephemeral quality of design interventions,
by not only making the first step towards tearing itself
down, but by also keeping the original monument
intact enough, so it might be reassembled to fit a
future context.