Exhibition | Gaudeō! 20 years of Casteliers

Presented by 

 

Exhibition opening: Thursday, March 6 at 5 p.m.

 

Commissioned by the Maison de la culture d’Outremont, this exhibition celebrates the 20th anniversary of Casteliers and its influence in the borough. The Galerie d’Outremont, with curator and puppeteer Paola Huitrón, will be showcasing a selection of puppetry projects that capture the range and richness of the puppetry arts.

Featuring 11 productions from Québec presented at the Festival international de Casteliers over the past two decades, the exhibition takes a closer look at the diversity of techniques, puppets, and set structures used to create these works. The exhibition is a tribute to the constantly evolving nature of puppetry, its intersection with other artistic disciplines, and its exploration of new artistic forms. Most of all, the exhibition underscores the collaborative spirit between artists as well as the dedication of organizations like the Maison de la culture d’Outremont to the puppetry arts.

Gaudeō, a Latin word evoking a state of joy and contentment captures the celebratory spirit that is the motivating force behind this retrospective. A fruitful collaboration that continues to bring together puppeteers from home and abroad.

 

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March 6 to May 25, 2025
Opening, Thursday, March 6, at 5 p.m.

 

Galerie d’Outremont
41 Saint-Just Avenue
Montréal (Québec) H2V 3K1
Phone: 514 495-7419

 

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Photos

Marionnette Annonceuse puppet by Pierre Robitaille (2014) for Motus, Marionnettes et Théâtre. PHOTO: Paola Huitrón

Credits

Curator: Paola Huitrón

Mexican-born puppeteer Paola Huitrón has been living in Montréal since 2016. This exhibition allows her to express her wonder at Québec puppeteers and their work. The exhibition traces the fundamental role played by the Outremont neighbourhood in the history of contemporary puppetry, as a place for development. Casteliers has been working with the borough of Outremont for 20 years.

I interpret the collaboration between Casteliers and the borough of Outremont in terms of creating a setting where puppetry, bearer of stories and symbols, can be experienced in its best light.

– Paola Huitrón

 

This exhibition would not have been made possible without the generous support and contribution from :

Théâtre Motus creates original theatre for young audiences and their families. Working with puppetry and live music, the company builds bridges to establish a constant dialogue between cultures. Resolutely open to the world, Motus has made a point of collaborating with artists from all over the world, through both national and international co-productions.

The Théâtre de l’OEil’s mission is to create, produce and present puppet theatre productions for young audiences. Its commitment to creative research and development enables it to generate innovations that serve each of their works. The company is also actively involved in providing professional training and cultural outreach activities to deepen and extend its impact within both the artistic community and the wider public.

La Pire Espèce is a brotherhood of merry demiurges, artisans of the extraordinary who are firm believers in hybrid creations. Impertinent, festive and incidentally erudite, the company’s theatre combines raw materials and unbridled imagination, baroque excess and surgical precision.

Based in Québec City, Ubus Théâtre is a small travelling theatre set up in a yellow school bus that has been converted into a theatrical venue. It lifts the spectator’s soul and transports them into a world of imagination. An intimate refuge where you can discover the mysterious world of miniature puppets and small-scale object theatre.

The mission of L’Illusion, Théâtre de marionnettes is to create, produce and present works that showcase the rich diversity of puppet theatre. The company focuses primarily on young audiences it enjoys surprising with innovative productions that combine both visual and performing arts. L’Illusion, Théâtre de marionnettes’ outreach workshops are designed to boost the positive impact that cultural activities have on children, and to create strong bonds between artists and audiences.

Wild puppet tamers and curiosity-mongers Les Sages Fous create a theatre of paradoxes: ritual and mundane, domestic and marvellous. A grotesque and poetic theatre where images and gestures speak more strongly than words. A theatre that is as surprising and disturbing as it is wild and undisciplined.

Magali Chouinard is a multidisciplinary artist. Since 2008, she has been converging her visual arts practice with puppetry. Creating masks and puppets has given her the opportunity to bring her visual world to life through the performing arts, illustrated books, and animated film.

 

Acknowledgements

Casteliers and the Outremont borough also wish to thank Pupulus Mordicus, Théâtre Incliné, Claude Lapointe, Marcelle Hudon, and Marie-Claude Labrecque.

Casteliers wishes to thank the Maison de la culture d’Outremont and the borough of Outremont for making this retrospective exhibition possible.