Madeleine Poulin

What a fantastic idea to choose the Lachine Canal as the place to launch a triennal event of ephemeral public sculpture.

The imaginative and adventurous choice of this site is a wonderful surprise that the Centre de diffusion 3D is giving to all Montrealers and future visitors, and when you think about it, it is the ideal place. This is because the Canal Lachine is important to Montrealers in many respects and although some of its rich heritage has been forgotten, its future has yet to be explored.

But, what interest me particularly about Artefact 2001 is that it will contribute vital creative energy to the Canal development project. The development of this old waterway can not involve just its physical aspect. It must have a cultural dimension as well, in every sense of the word.

We already know this development will mean all kinds of changes in the neighbourhoods around the Canal - changes that don't always create just hope for people who are often let down.

What could be a better attack on this temptation to defeatism than the Centre de diffusion 3D's proposed event? Both the prestige of having artist encounter a place that has long been unpopular and the frequent contact with innovative artworks will stimulate the public's imagination, here I am thinking with special affection of the local young people.

Of course, the Lachine Canal does not belong just to the people of the neighbourhoods. Art is a precursor, and for everyone, Artefact 2001 will be a great help in building a bridge between the Canal's remarkable past and its bright future, the one I dream of for the Lachine Canal.

Madeleine Poulin
Journalist and member of the Support Committee for the Forum of the Development of the Laschine Canal