THE SUD-OUEST: AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL NEXUS
For some years now, the Sud-Ouest’s cultural landscape has been marked by important achievements: the cultural community’s participation in the reopening of the Lachine Canal, the reopening of the Corona, the renovation of the Centre culturel Georges-Vanier, the Rendez-vous de la culture du Sud-Ouest, the programming of the Société de promotion du canal de Lachine (open-air exhibits, bus tours in collaboration with L’autre Montréal and boat rides in collaboration with L’Éclusier), etc.
Since 1997, RESO has led the Table des acteurs culturels du Sud-Ouest, which in 1999 produced a non-exhaustive directory of 360 of the key players in culture in the Sud-Ouest. In 2005, a RESO survey conducted by the Rendez-vous de la culture du Sud-Ouest identified 435 central figures in culture in the district.
The Table des acteurs culturels
Since its birth in 1997, the Table has acquired the following mandate: With specific activities, make culture accessible to the Sud-Ouest community, sustain the development of the Sud-Ouest cultural sector, and assure its visibility and recognition.
It boasts several achievements, including publication of the Répertoire culturel du Sud-Ouest de Montréal and joint promotion of Sud-Ouest cultural figures’ participation in the Journées de la culture. It has also broadened networking opportunities for members, and sparked cultural projects resulting from these partnerships. Members participated in great numbers at the reopening of the Lachine Canal, adding numerous activities to the canal’s summer programming. The Table also helped organize the Rendez-vous de la culture, which took place in March 2005. Reactivated in January 2007, the Table is now presided by Madeleine Poulin, journalist and active member of the Sud-Ouest community.
The following institutions, businesses and community organizations are a part of the Table:
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Association culturelle du Sud-Ouest
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Corona Theatre
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Centre des métiers du verre du Québec/ESPACE VERRE
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Design & impression textile de Montréal
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Studio Victor
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Paradoxe
- Galerie Donati
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Quartier Éphémère
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Maison Saint-Gabriel
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Radio-Ville Marie
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Affaires d'art
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Musée des ondes Berliner
The Sud-Ouest Borough, Parks Canada and the Montreal School Board are also represented on the Table des acteurs culturels du Sud-Ouest.
The Rendez-vous de la culture du Sud-Ouest
On March 30, 2005, RESO and the Sud-Ouest Borough held, jointly with the Table des acteurs culturels du Sud-Ouest, the Rendez-vous de la culture du Sud-Ouest. Over one hundred artists and craftspeople, representatives from institutions, businesses, organizations and the cultural and educational communities, and citizens implicated in culture discussed accessibility to culture, support for cultural enterprises and organizations, and support for the artists and craftspeople themselves, links between culture and education, public art, heritage and more.
The Rendez-vous de la culture du Sud-Ouest was developed to position the Sud-Ouest as a significant cultural nexus in Montreal. Another of its goals was to identify courses of action that would respond to the needs of the population for practice and recreation as well as diffusion of cultural activities, and the needs of the cultural community for development, training and consultation.
The event gave many participants the chance to forge links and lay the foundation for new collaborations.
The Compte rendu du Rendez-vous de la culture du Sud-Ouest contains each of the day’s presentations and provides a summary of the workshops.
PALÉE 2007-2010: Courses of Action
The Plan local d'action pour l'économie et l'emploi (PALÉE) 2007-2010 outlines several courses of action regarding support for the cultural sector, namely:
- Having the City of Montreal recognize the Sud-Ouest as a cultural nexus.
- Participating in the borough’s defining of a cultural policy.
- Commissioning ACSO to reissue the Sud-Ouest cultural directory.
- Encouraging the launch of a service centre for visual artists.
- Continuing efforts to establish the Cité des artistes (400 workshop-apartments for artists).
Information: Charles Gagnon or Lucie Dufour