with Marguerite à bicyclette bringing home the Jury Prize and the Télé-Québec Audience Award.
Montréal, April 11, 2024 — The Conseil des arts de Montréal presented its 38th Grand Prix, including a $30,000 grant, to Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel in front of an audience of 750 guests at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. For the first time since the event began 38 years ago, the prize was awarded to an Indigenous artist. In another first, the Jury Prize ($10,000), offered by the Caisse Desjardins de la Culture, and the Télé-Québec Audience Award ($10,000) were both awarded to the same organization, circus arts company Marguerite à bicyclette. Each of the eight finalist arts organizations received a $5,000 grant, bringing the total awarded at the 38th Grand Prix up to $90,000.
A tribute to the Montréal arts community’s outstanding creativity
Master of ceremonies Édith Cochrane was joined by the Conseil’s Executive Director Nathalie Maillé and Interim President Mathieu Bouchard, as well as 750 distinguished guests from the cultural, business and political communities, including the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal.
38th Grand Prix ($30,000): Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel is highlighting 35 years of activism and artistic work with this piece echoing the overlooked and sometimes ostracized voices of Mohawk women during the 1990 Resistance using a new medium: documentary film. Produced in a spirit of light and kindness, her short film titled Kanatenhs – When The Pine Needles Fall won Best Canadian Short Film during Montréal First Peoples Festival (2023), was nominated or awarded prizes at some thirty festivals in a dozen countries, and is a legacy to new generations and all First Peoples, a commitment to memory driven by an unshakeable drive for truth.
Jury Prize ($10,000) and Télé-Québec Audience Award ($10,000): Marguerite à bicyclette
They’ve travelled 1,500 km by bicycle for over 50 circus performances. The trio behind Marguerite à bicyclette brings the circus of the absurd to new audiences, reusing recycled materials in its costumes and sets as they put on shows without producing any greenhouse gases. Driven by values of environmental responsibility, innovation and accessibility, Marguerite à bicyclette has a playful, unifying, bold style that influences current and future artists and inspires the next generation of audiences.
Jury and selection criteria
The jury responsible for selecting the winning organizations for the 38th Grand Prix and Jury Prize was chaired by Mathieu Bouchard, Interim President of the Conseil des arts de Montréal and Executive Director, Lead, Impact Strategy – Industrial & Commercial Innovation at KPMG. The jury included Margaret Archer, Director of Communications at Rio Tinto and President of Fondation Dynastie’s Board of Directors; Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay, writer, actor and co-spokesperson for Interligne; Vickie Joseph, CEO of VKOSMETIK and Chair of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, and David Laurin, Artistic Co-Director of Duceppe, winner of the 37th Grand Prix.
The criteria guiding the jury in determining the winner of the 38th Grand Prix were the following: innovation, uniqueness and authenticity of the artistic approach; the will to take action and desire to have an impact on the community; and the originality and relevance of strategies to reach audiences in Montréal or mobilize the target community.
The jury was to select the winning artists and organizations from the eight finalists nominated for their artistic contribution in 2023: Massimadi Foundation, Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel (Kanatenhs – When The Pine Needles Fall), MAPP_MTL, Marguerite à bicyclette, Oktoecho, Plural (The Contemporary Art Galleries Association), Studio 303, and La traversée du siècle (by Alice Ronfard, based on work by Michel Tremblay).
The Télé-Québec Audience Award was awarded based on votes cast by 3,176 people on the 38th Grand Prix website.
Valuable and essential contributions
The Conseil would like to thank its major partners, whose significant support makes the Grand Prix a flagship event on the Montréal art scene: Télé-Québec, Desjardins Caisse de la Culture, La Presse, and new creative partner Leeroy.
The Conseil would also like to thank all patrons for their generous donations in support of the finalists: Power Corporation of Canada, Anonymous, AtkinsRéalis, Bell, Stingray, Tourisme Montréal and YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. Many thanks to our partners in the arts: Caisse Desjardins de la Culture, theChamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Deloitte, Fasken, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Azrieli Foundation, McCarthy Tétrault, the SODEC, Télé-Québec and VO2 Canada.
About the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM)
Through its various forms of assistance, the Conseil des arts de Montréal supports artistic innovation and creative expression in all its diversity, with the aim of promoting Montréal’s artists, producers and presenters. Since 1956, the Conseil has played a unique role as a catalyst for this artistic ecosystem, helping make Montréal one of the world’s great cultural metropolises.
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