Alfred-Pellan museum marks 40 years with new exhibition on island identity
Laval’s Espace muséal Alfred-Pellan is marking its 40th anniversary with a new exhibition exploring the idea of islands as places of memory, migration, identity and imagination.
Une île n’est pas l’autre will open on Sunday, September 20, at 2 p.m. and remain on view until January 3, 2027. Admission is free.
Curated by Laval-based curator Emmanuelle Choquette, the exhibition brings together 33 works by Pierre Bourgault, Andréanne Godin, Yen-Chao Lin, Fatima Zohra Ouardani and Yann Pocreau. About half of the works were created in 2026, according to the museum.
Laval’s insular identity at the centre of the exhibition
The exhibition takes Laval’s geography as a starting point, while expanding the idea of an island beyond a piece of land surrounded by water.
According to the museum, the works approach insularity through themes including memory, exile, movement, territory, desire and resistance.
The exhibition includes sculpture, installation, photography, drawing, video and glass works. Each artist presents a different interpretation of the island, whether physical, imagined or metaphorical.
“We all have an island in mind,” Choquette said in the exhibition announcement. “For some, it is a refuge. For others, a place to reach or to leave.”
She added that the five artists invite visitors to move through real and imagined landscapes while reflecting on how people inhabit the world.
Five artists, five approaches
Yen-Chao Lin, who was born in Taipei and lived in Laval after arriving in Quebec, presents suspended glass and copper works examining collecting, extraction, spirituality and the desire to possess and classify objects.
Her series My Crystal Palace draws on the history of the Crystal Palace exhibitions in London and Montreal, while her installation Aerolith uses glass, copper rings and chains to contrast visual lightness with the environmental weight associated with resource extraction.
Yann Pocreau focuses on light, movement and perception. His works include a new presentation of the Archipel series, in which the same unidentified island appears under changing coloured light, as well as works that shift in appearance as visitors move through the gallery.
Andréanne Godin presents works developed from clay collected while free-diving in bodies of water across Quebec. She transforms the material into dry pastels and uses the resulting pigments to create drawings based on the colours she observes underwater.
Fatima Zohra Ouardani, originally from Casablanca and now based in Laval, presents sculptures and installations combining wood, porcelain, glass, textiles, embroidery, inherited objects and recovered materials. Her work addresses memory, migration and cultural transmission.
Pierre Bourgault presents works based in part on satellite images of Greenland. According to the exhibition text, his practice uses mapping, geography and changing perspectives to explore borders, sovereignty and relationships with territory.
Exhibition also reflects evolution of the institution
The anniversary comes as the former Salle Alfred-Pellan adopts the name Espace muséal Alfred-Pellan.
According to the institution, the new name is intended to better reflect its role in research, collection, conservation, interpretation and exhibition in contemporary and current art.
“More than an anniversary, it is an invitation to imagine the future of our institution and our community,” said Jasmine Colizza, visual arts manager at the Espace muséal Alfred-Pellan.
Laval executive committee member Christine Poirier also described the exhibition as a reflection of the city’s evolution as a place of encounter, exchange, movement and renewal.
“The insular character of Laval does not isolate us, but brings us together,” Poirier said in the announcement.
Public activities planned throughout the exhibition
A series of public activities will accompany the exhibition through the fall and holiday season.
Families will be able to participate in the museum’s Parent-médiateur activity throughout the exhibition, while the Jeudis au ralenti program will take place on Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Family workshops are scheduled for September 27 and October 17, beginning with a visit to the exhibition followed by a sculpture activity using natural or recycled materials.
Choquette will lead a guided visit of the exhibition on October 25 at 2 p.m.
Artist Andréanne Godin will also offer a full-day creative workshop for adults on November 21 focusing on colour.
Additional family programming is planned for October 10, December 27 and December 29.
Four decades of visual arts in Laval
Located inside Maison des arts de Laval, the Espace muséal Alfred-Pellan describes itself as the only museum institution dedicated to visual arts in Laval.
According to the institution, it welcomes more than 45,000 visitors annually through six exhibitions presented in its main gallery and the Théâtre des Muses foyer.
The opening of Une île n’est pas l’autre will take place Sunday, September 20, at 2 p.m.
