Œuvre d'art public

Je me souviens

Alfredo Jaar, Je me souviens, 1992
Alfredo Jaar, Je me souviens, 1992
Locations:
Vietnamese Restaurant, 506 Duluth St. East, Canada
Le Delta-Ba, 131 Prince-Arthur St. West , Canada
Restaurant Dalat, 2053 Bleury Street, Montréal, QC, Canada
Artwork creator(s): 
Jaar, Alfredo
Text author(s): 
Jaar, Alfredo
Installation year: 
1992
Description: 

The photographic installation refers to the plight of the Vietnamese Boat People who were locked up in detention centres in Hong Kong while they were seeking asylum. Installed in three Montreal Vietnamese restaurants, the artwork consists of four framed photographs representing the Whitehead Detention Centre, another photograph of the Hong Kong Sea presented in a light box, a videotape that shows, among others, images of a body of water and of a closed door. Visitors can get postcard reproductions of the artwork for a dollar. On the back of the cards, a text appears describing the scene. On the tables of the restaurants, table mats representing blue waves describes the situation of the Boat People and offer a definition of the term "refugee".

Text of the artwork: 

Definition of the word "refugee".
Information about Vietnamese Boat People.

Text theme: 
Emigration, Asylum Policies
Artwork theme: 

Asylum, Detention

History: 
Event: Pour la suite du monde, Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art
Event date(s): 
1992
Note(s): 

The table mats and postcards also included, in addition to information about Vietnamese refugees and the exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the following information: "Alfredo Jaar, Je me souviens, 1992, Pour la suite du monde, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, 26 mai au 11 octobre 1992" and details about the Vietnamese Community in Canada, Montreal region (6338 Victoria Street, Suite 16, Montreal (QC) H3W 2S5, Tel.: 340-9630).

Document(s): 

Alfredo Jaar: the fire this time. Public interventions 1979-2005

Jaar, Alfredo (2005).  Alfredo Jaar: the fire this time. Public interventions 1979-2005. Milano : Charta, p. 150

Pour la Suite du monde

Godmer, Gilles, Réal Lussier (1992).  Pour la Suite du monde. Montréal : Éditions Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal

Pour la suite du monde

Pontbriand, Chantal (1992).  Pour la suite du monde. Parachute. no. 68 (Octobre - Novembre) , p. 52-53

Pour la Suite du monde : Histoire à suivre

Aquin, Stéphane (1992).  Pour la Suite du monde : Histoire à suivre. Voir. vol. 6(4-10 juin), p. 18