Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Presentation from the immersive virtual inauguration celebrating Impostor Cities at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia on May 20 at 1:00 p.m. EDT.
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
Twitter - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
Presentation from the immersive virtual inauguration celebrating Impostor Cities at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia on May 20 at 1:00 p.m. EDT.
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
Twitter - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca



![Portrait of Pierre Bourgault, 2022 #GGARTS winner
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Pierre Bourgault is a 2022 winner of the Governor Generals Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Sarah Seené.
A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arms-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.
For more information, visit: https://en.ggarts.ca
****
Transcript:
I am known as the “sea sculptor.”
And in everything I’ve done, there have always been lived and felt experiences of the sea.
My exhibitions have all been named after things that relate to the sea, whether it be the wind, boats, all manner of adventures.
I come from a family that has always worked with wood. They are known as woodworkers. And I continued the tradition.
I don’t try to reason anything out. It always has to be subconscious, like an idea that just comes to float over the oil of my brain at night.
I’ve made it a habit that it be literal, in a way. What comes to me is always a sentence. A well-articulated sentence that flows, that is almost musical. And at that moment, so that I don’t lose its quality, I go downstairs and write it down right away because I’ve often lost things that were very interesting.
Everything is political, in the end. As soon as you make a movement—be it secret, discreet or violent—it’s always political. It’s politics, but it’s also poetry. Poetry isn’t always just things written down with smart words that split open, it’s actions as well.
Beauty really comes… “true beauty,” if you can say that, is the quality of the meaning. That’s it. But it isn’t “aesthetic beauty,” it’s beauty in meaning, you know? Beauty that is versatile, that lends itself to any state of mind you may have. Now, that’s beautiful!
All of my sculptures include a space for sleeping, for seeking refuge. I’ve always built little houses, habitable sculptures. They’re like a reserve, like a bird in a place.
What I like to do is to conduct exercises consisting in living in a given space. Even if the sculpture is huge—living in it. Living in the horizon. You build lots of things on the water. Your imagination lands on the water. It reflects the earth, and that reflection is reflected in the sky.
And then, the sky itself, having borrowed the colour and shape of the sea, reflects what is on the earth. It’s two mirrors speaking to each other. That’s what it is.
[Laughs].
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/canada.council/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts/
Website - https://canadacouncil.ca/
Art Bank
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/artbank_banquedart/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CCartbank/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - https://artbank.ca/
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ccunesco/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco/
Website - https://en.ccunesco.ca/ Portrait of Pierre Bourgault, 2022 #GGARTS winner](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UxSzlY506MM/mqdefault.jpg)



![Portrait of Anna Torma, #GGARTS2020 winner
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Anna Torma is the 2020 winner of the Saidye Bronfman Award for the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Nadine Gomez.
Co-production of the Canada Council for the Arts and PRIM. Presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit ggarts.ca
****
Transcript:
Narrow way,
Big way,
between them a well-like cave.
When you peek in take good care:
Hundred holes and cracks are there.
If you’re looking very long
you might find me until dawn.
Small walnut,
big walnut,
between them hazelnut.
Here was built a fancy house,
Hundred rooms and hundred spires.
If you’re walking long enough
you might find me in twelve months.
The silk thread is fantastic, it never gets tangled. It’s easy to work with it.
But you need to choose carefully the needle, how long is it, the thickness.
Everything must be perfect.
My every day life is art, which is . . . you can’t ask [for a] better life.
If you touch a piece of silk, you think of the silkworms, the silk road from China. It’s very beautiful in its own right.
You have a piece of wonderful art history or human history in your hand. And even if you work with living creatures, like the flowers and the rose bushes in my garden, they have a voice, and they are talking back sometimes.
If you are working with them and listen to nature, or listen to your medium, then these relationships give you a lot better results.
Embers of wood in fire I’d be—
Soft moss on stones in ponds I’d be—
Swaying poplar in wind I’d be—
On Earth my father’s son I’d be—
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/canada.council/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts/
Website - https://canadacouncil.ca/
Art Bank
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/artbank_banquedart/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CCartbank/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - https://artbank.ca/
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ccunesco/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco/
Website - https://en.ccunesco.ca/ Portrait of Anna Torma, #GGARTS2020 winner](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WgHVvfjaCDk/mqdefault.jpg)


