The story takes place in downtown Quebec City, Canada. In a post-apocalyptic future, the waters rise and transform the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district, which used to sit on a cliff, into an island. Many years after the events, the residents turn things around, cultivating not only vegetables and flowers on the roofs and streets, but also mutual support and good spirits.
In 2019, determined to side with utopia, the Tyroliennes saint-jambiennes organized a collection of testimonies among the people of this district. In 2020, based on the visions and ideas collected, they staged an exhibition of the landscapes of this imaginary island in street windows. They also created a theatrical itinerary, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in this universe.
This project follows on from the novel Saint-Jambe (Alice Guéricolas-Gagné, 2018, VLB éditeur). It borrows not its synopsis, but rather its poetic, unifying, inventive and subversive state of mind.
From September 11 to October 13, 2020, eleven landscapes representing the neighborhood transformed into an island where life is good were exhibited in the homes of eleven citizens who agreed to lend their windows to the project. Each work is accompanied by an aphorism (micro-narrative) composed by Alice Guéricolas-Gagné to highlight, among other things, elements drawn from the 2019 collection of testimonials. The illustrations are by Sébastien Brunel, the artist who created the 195 print series which depict the Croix-Rousse—his neighborhood in Lyon, France—as an island. To create the landscapes for La montée des eaux, he was nourished in his process by a stay in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district.
To give shape to this imaginary island, the windows exhibition was brought to life on four evenings in September 2020 by an itinerant theatrical tour. Designed as a guided tour of the island's jewels, this itinerary featured some twenty performers in parking lots and courtyards made available by local residents. Music, projections, circus, clowning, theater - these are just some of the arts that brought the neighborhood's creativity to its most hidden corners. One encounter at a time, the characters and the inventive, unifying way of life on the island of Saint-Jambe were revealed to the public.
Learn more about the project:
saint-jambe.com/montee-des-eaux/
sebastienbrunel.com/saint-jambe-la-montee-des-eaux
Full Credits:
A project directed and produced by Tyroliennes saint-jambiennes (Alice Guéricolas-Gagné and Mélina Kerhoas)
Illustrations: Sébastien Brunel
Aphorisms: Alice Guéricolas-Gagné
Organizational support: Raphaël Ramirez
Technical director: Lorena Bouchard-Mugica
Stage manager: Danielle Bertrand
Video capture and editing: Marie-Chloé Racine
Photo documentation: Débora Flor
Graphic design: Julien Dallaire-Charest
Sound capture and capsule editing: Simon-Olivier Gagnon, Mélina Kerhoas and Raphaël Ramirez
Consultation: Félix Marois, Réjean Perron and Adèle Raux-Copin
Musical guides
L'Ensemble klezmer de Sainte-Nigoune
Welcoming international journalists
Porter: Margo Ganassa
Banjo player: PA Tanguay
La naissance de l'île
Text and interpretation: Alice Guéricolas-Gagné
Projections: Mélina Kerhoas
Radio Saint-Jambe
Design and performance: Jordan Jack
Canot en portage
Performance: Sami-Jai Wagner-Beaulieu, Élia Wagner-Beaulieu, Michel Beaulieu and Ève Tremblay
L'Académie des Beaux-Arts Saint-Jambe
Conception and interpretation of the Master: Kaël Mercader
Assistant : Antoine Sirois
La postière de l'île
The postwoman on stilts : Josette Lépine
Projections : Mélina Kerhoas
Text and interpretation : Alice Guéricolas-Gagné
Les présences diplomatiques
Duchesse de Saint-Jambe: Hélène Matte
Duchesse de la Cité sous-marine: Alix Paré-Vallerand
J'ai du mal à croire aux bleuets
Scenography, dramaturgy and puppet design: Aglaë de la Taïga
Stage direction and performance: Lauriane Charbonneau
Interpretation: Mathilde Ouellet and Heidi Brown
Assistance: Maya Guy
Do-it-all artists: Laura Dp and Eve Mequignon
La sorcière de Saint-Jambe
Design and interpretation of the witch: Clara Barbieux Kamishibai
Drawings: Crystin
Les musiciens de la ville engloutie
Design and performance: Yohan Bonnette (guitar) and Michel Côté (maïkotron)
Thanks to all the citizens who made this project possible by lending their windows, yards, parking lots or extension cords to the initiative!
Thanks also to the volunteers who made the walk possible!
Funding: Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Première ovation - arts multi, Consulat général de France à Québec
Essential support: Productions Recto-Verso, Centre agriculturel Nouaisons, Librairie Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Festival Québec en toutes lettres (Julie Veillet and Isabelle Forest), Stéphane Caron, Comité Populaire Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Société de développement commercial Faubourg Saint-Jean, Bureau de circonscription de Taschereau.
