Permanent public artwork for the park Tiohtià:ke Otsira’kéhne in Montréal
Inauguration : October 2019
Bronze sculpture and landscaping
Realised by: The Society of Affective Archives (Fiona Annis, Véronique La Perrière M. and Nadia Myre)
Collection of the Bureau d’art public de la Ville de Montréal
Photographic documentation by Guy L’Heureux and Marc-Olivier Becotte

Situated in the heart of Tio’tia:ke island (also known as Montreal, Canada) the Mont-Royal park has been known since time immemorial as a site of meetings, exchanges and contemplation. Very ancient graves, as well as a contemporary cemetery, testify to the sacred nature of this territory. In the spring of 2018, the Mont-Royal park welcomed for the first time in half a century a new permanent public artwork on the landscape. Realized by three artists of different cultural backgrounds, the sculpture L’Étreinte des temps gives voice to the heritage of the mountain by evoking the history of the site and drawing inspiration from ancestral knowledge. Inspired by the form and medicinal properties of the willow, an ancient remedy against pain, L’Étreinte des temps is an invitation for the present moment to join with and protect all the yesterdays and tomorrows.

Essay by Anne-Marie Proulx

Interview with Éric Clément de La Presse

Documentary film available on ARTS.FILM

Location: the sculpture is located on the northern summit of the Mont-Royal

Film : L’Étreinte des Temps
Direction : Maxime Pelletier-Huot and la Société des archives affectives
In collaboration with le Bureau d’art public de la Ville de Montréal
World premier at the Festival international du film sur l’art
Screening : Friday March 22, 2019 at 8pm
Centre of Canadien Architecture – Théâtre Paul-Desmarais – Montreal