Magali Baribeau-MarchandA canary in the mine

Magali Baribeau-Marchand, artist in residence at the BPS22 since October 2022, continues her experiments with a participative intervention at the Passage de la Bourse in Charleroi, free of charge to the public.

From Wednesday 14 December to 21 December 2022, the Quebecker artist will take over one of the Rive Gauche commercial modules (14 Passage de la Bourse) and invite passers-by to confide in her canary, thus becoming an actor in an artistic performance. In the rush of seasonal shopping, the artist will offer the public a hiatus, a moment’s conversation one-to-one with a bird.

The offer springs from the symbolism of the canary in the mine, who announces a coming catastrophe by its agitation on sensing toxic gases. The canary’s sensitivity and the free expression this conversation permits – nothing will be recorded and even the bird won’t tell anyone about it – may prevent the participants suffering a firedamp explosion too.

Taking the opportunity of a week’s stay in the unusual surroundings of a commercial module in the Shopping Rive Gauche, Magali is continuing her research there. Under the influence of the canary, “I am drawing closer to the bird’s feelings; he too must master a new environment and construct his temporary new life by adapting to the sometimes fruitful, sometimes confrontational encounters with the other.”

In the course of the meetings with passers-by, she will deploy spontaneous and ephemeral artistic actions around the printed word and text. The different items created and collected may therefore be the first pieces in a new audio-visual work and artist’s book.