September 5 to October 13, 2019

María Wills Londoño, in collaboration with Audrey Genois and Maude Johnson

Under the theme The Life of Things, MOMENTA 2019 explores the nature—or even the personality—taken on by objects conveyed through images. Through the eyes of 39 artists from 20 countries, the biennale examines the economic, social, and cultural contexts in which material production is prevalent. With respect to the issues of consumption that characterize the contemporary world, these thingified objects are given dizzying visibility even as, ironically, they are rendered invisible by boundless accumulation. For its 2019 edition, the biennale brings out universes that are constructed between individuals and their environment, highlighting transferences that take place between subject and object.

MOMENTA transcends the polarization between the symbolic and the functional in the economies of the object. To this end, the biennale’s four thematic components offer different ways of imagining the relationships between human beings and objects. Encompassing a variety of ideas tied to questions of consumption, these components intersect in various ways to shed light on the works shown. They allow us to envisage the complexity of the connotations and resonances of things in contemporary societies.

Laura Aguilar (United States); Francis Alÿs (Belgium/Mexico); Kader Attia (Algeria/France); Elisabeth Belliveau (Canada); Karen Paulina Biswell (Colombia/France); Maeve Brennan (United Kingdom); Jonathas de Andrade (Brazil); Raphaëlle de Groot (Canada); Hannah Doerksen (Canada); Patricia Domínguez (Chile); Chun Hua Catherine Dong (China/Canada); Alinka Echeverría (Mexico/United Kingdom); Peter Fischli and David Weiss (Switzerland); Jeneen Frei Njootli (Canada); Marina Gadonneix (France); Gauri Gill (India); Maggie Groat (Canada); Felicity Hammond (United Kingdom); Jérôme Havre (France/Canada); Laura Huertas Millán (Colombia/France); Keyezua (Angola); Kapwani Kiwanga (Canada/France); Anouk Kruithof (The Netherlands); Maryse Larivière (Canada); Taus Makhacheva (Russia); Ana Mendieta (Cuba); Izumi Miyazaki (Japan); Bridget Moser (Canada); Meagan Musseau (Canada); Rafael Ortega (Mexico); Juan Ortiz-Apuy (Costa Rica/Canada); Celia Perrin Sidarous (Canada); Miguel Angel Ríos (Argentina); Jamie Ross (Canada); Victoria Sin (Canada/United Kingdom); Cauleen Smith (United States); Batia Suter (Switzerland/The Netherlands); Camille Turner (Canada)

Galerie de l’UQAM; VOX, centre de l’image contemporaine; Centre CLARK; Dazibao; Galerie B-312; Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery; McCord Museum; Mile-End district – Public space; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal; Musée d’art de Joliette; OPTICA; Occurrence

The MOMENTA Creative cultural mediation program has offered a series of educational activities, creative workshops, and guided tours developed in response to the biennale’s theme.

10 workshops
451 guided tours
3 educative tools
14 partners : McCord Museum; Celia Perrin Sidarous; Jamie Ross; Exeko; Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush; Raphaëlle de Groot; Kama La Mackerel; Brila; Éco-quartier Saint-Jacques; Fondation filles d’action; Dazibao; Atelier circulaire; DeSerres; Photo Solution

210,028 exhibition visits and participation to the activities
11,595 participants to the educational program
39 artists
13 exhibitions