Maria Ezcurra Neotropical Migrants and Others
Maria Ezcurra, Cormoran à aigrettes, 2019
Neotropical Migrants and Others is a multidisciplinary exhibition that includes drawings, sculptures, textile installations and a collection of Latin American artisanries obtained from garage sales and second-hand shops in Montreal.
Inspired by the trajectory of certain species of Neotropical migratory birds that fly each year from Canada to Central and South America and back, this work has involved a long process of research. It considers the bird species specifically migrate from Quebec to the south of the American continent and has included the observation of birds in Montreal's wetlands – that are home to many migratory species, many of them vulnerable or endangered, like the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). Configured under a kind of archaeology of displacement and memory, the series presented here uses recycled and recovered materials, such as packing boxes, tourist souvenirs and personal objects that have followed these same migratory routes.
This exhibition seeks to discover the links between climate change and migration. It considers the dependent relationship between nature and human activity, affected by political, economic and social factors, and incorporates both the resilience and vulnerability of migrant populations, exploring and revealing the connections - sometimes invisible and often problematic - of the migratory phenomenon with environmental and social issues.
Maria Ezcurra, Cormoran à aigrettes, 2019
Maria Ezcurra is an Argentinean-Mexican-Canadian artist and educator. Recipient of the 2019 Prix de la diversité en arts visuels by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, Maria has participated in numerous exhibits worldwide, including at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Carl Freedman Gallery in the United Kingdom, the Nuit Blanche in Toronto, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and La Centrale galerie Powerhouse. She has taught art in a number of universities and organizations in Mexico and Canada over the past twenty years. After obtaining a PhD in Art Education at Concordia University, she worked as an Artist-in-Residence in the Faculty of Education at McGill University, where she currently is a course lecturer. Maria also works as art facilitator at the McGill Art Hive and other community initiatives. Her areas of research and creation are participatory and inclusive art practices; dress and the social construction of gender; migration, identity and belonging.
Lors de l’installation de l’exposition Migrantes Neotropicales y Otros, l’artiste Maria Ezcurra et la technicienne en galerie d’OBORO et artiste Tracy Valcárcel se sont tout de suite bien entendues et ont décidé de poursuivre leurs conversations dans cette entrevue.
Maria Ezcurra, vue de l’exposition Migrantes Neotropicales y Otros, 2021. Photo : Paul Litherland