Three Quebecers among winners of Governor General's Awards

FILE - Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, delivers the Throne Speech in the Senate in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Three Quebec artists are among the winners of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.

Jocelyn Robert, an interdisciplinary artist from Quebec City, was recognized for his key role in the development of future generations of Quebec artists.

Robert works in visual arts, music, audio art, digital art, performance, installation, video and writing. His visual art and video works have been exhibited internationally and his sound works can be found on over 30 CDs.

He has taught at Mills College in Oakland, California, at the Université du Québec à Montréal and since 2008, he is a professor at the École d'art de l'Université Laval.

Monique Régimbald-Zeiber, a painter and author born in Sorel, is also among the winners.

Her works are included in various collections, including those of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée d'art de Joliette and the Galerie de l'UQAM. They have been exhibited in Quebec, Canada and Europe.

A professor and researcher, she holds a doctorate in literature on the practices of the Russian avant-garde.

"I have always felt that there was an urgent need to ensure the dissemination of work such as that of Monique Régimbald-Zieber, because it is feminist, because it addresses large spaces of inclusive thought, because it addresses groups 'invisibilized' by history, by language, by the dominant power," wrote the director of the Galerie de l'Université du Québec à Montréal, Louise Déry, who had nominated the artist.

The third winning Quebec artist is artist, teacher, storyteller, researcher and navigator Pierre Bourgault, born in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.

Bourgault founded the Saint-Jean-Port-Joli sculpture school in 1967. Since the 1970s, he has created habitable public artworks influenced by the river and horizontality and has participated in a large number of exhibitions in Quebec, Canada and abroad.

He is also co-founder of Est-Nord-Est, an international artists' residency located in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.

Winners also include Fredericton jeweller and silversmith Brigitte Clavette.

Clavette won the Saidye Bronfman Award, which recognizes excellence in the crafts. In keeping with tradition, the Canadian Museum of History will be acquiring one of her works.

Curator, artist and author Gerald McMaster receives the Outstanding Contribution Award.

The visual arts award winners will each receive a medallion and a $25,000 grant.

Other artists receiving awards this year are Moyra Frances Davey of New York, Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge of Toronto and David Ruben Piqtoukun of Plainfield, Ontario.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 2, 2022