An art exhibit featuring called Laterna Magica has been inhabiting the alleyways between Mentana, Saint-André, Roy and Bousquet, until Monday October 12th. The temporary installation presents over a hundred historical photos from the neighbourhood and displays them in situ – in doorways, on fences, and illuminated in windows – as close as possible to the places they were taken, as well as maps and other documentation pertaining to the site.
The artist behind the work, Loren Williams, has lived in the neighbourhood for ten years, but says that this project has provided an occasion to get to know her neighbours like never before. Thirteen neighbours whose homes border the alley opened their photo albums to Williams, including images that date as far back as 1906. Others spontaneously appeared at her door to help put up the exhibit and have even acted as informal guides, answering visitors’ questions about the exhibit.
Williams points out that the alley tends to be less orderly than the street front: things are allowed to decay, renovations are only partially completed, and new is slapped up upon old. All this means that many of the architectural details captured in the photographs are still recognizable two or three generations later.
And along with the photos have come the stories: elderly residents recall the time when a single flat could house handfuls of kids and the alley was a necessary extension of the living space: there were perpetually one or two games of street hockey going on. Today the alley remains lively with kids and dog-walkers, but since Laterna Magica the alley has seen more activity than ever before.
The exhibit runs until Monday October 12th; photos are illuminated between 7pm and midnight.
Photo courtesy of Loren Williams
2 comments
Is this map from 1910 or what? If you are using a retro non-representative map you could at least label the thing as such.
Hey Alf, don’t be such an ingrate.