History

Founded in 1982 by Su Schnee and Daniel Dion, OBORO* had an exciting beginning. During its first year, OBORO presented no less than 20 exhibitions and events, thanks to the involvement of many artists whose common objective was to offer resources and services to the artistic community and to the public, as well as to participate in the current worldwide artistic flux.

During the first ten years, OBORO occupied a space on Saint Laurent Boulevard, Montreal’s cosmopolitan axis, where exhibitions, performances, residencies and special events featured young artists from varied backgrounds producing ambitious and dauntless works.

In 1992 OBORO moved to its current location at 4001 Berri where premises were more conducive to production and to the presentation of visual, media, interdisciplinary and performing art works. In 1995, responding to an urgent need in the milieu, OBORO created the New Media Lab, a multifunctional space dedicated to activities in new technologies.

In 2001 a major expansion project for the Lab materialised on the second floor of the building. The New Media Lab, completed in the fall of 2004, has since become one of the most important centres of production and dissemination in Montreal and Canada. It includes a vast and unique range of studios and resources available to members of the collective, artists in the community, and the public.

^{* The name “OBORO” appeared in a dream and in a poem by Claude-Marie Caron. “OBORO” evokes the ancient myth of the “ouroboros”, the dragon-snake that swallows its tail and symbolizes transformation, renewal and a universe in continuous evolution.}