Masks of the First Nations of the St. Lawrence Valley: History, creation and use

The presence of masks has been recorded in the history of the Iroquois and Algonquin tribes who were established along the shores of the St. Lawrence River. This seminar will explore and compare the diverse types of masks used by these tribes at the material and immaterial cultural level and demonstrate their survival.

SPEAKER: Sylvain Richard
Multidisciplinary artist – (visual arts and stage), Sylvain Rivard is a Quebecker with a maternal grandmother who was Abenaki. For four years, he was involved in underground work for the stage and ethnic art galleries in New York, and later on in other areas of the United States, before returning to Montreal in 1993 to undertake multidisciplinary studies during which time he became particularly interested in the cultures of the First Nations. He was co-author and illustrator of the “Archéologie Sonore”, a collection of aboriginal songs published by Éditions Trois in 2001. He has sung, designed, told stories of his people who came from the urban landscape and woodlands, in Canada as well as France, Norway and the United States. He is a consultant and speaks out on behalf of many projects including theatrical, museum, television and film, as well as the youth publication “Le tour du monde en chansons” (A tour of the world in song), published in 2003 by Fides. He has returned to Odanak during the last four years and is taking courses in the Abenaki language, given by the Band Council. Currently, Sylvain Rivard is working on the preparation of a book on the first aboriginal authors, which is due for publication by Éditions Cornac this fall.