ABSTRACT
CORRIDART Revisited - Excavating the
Remains
Kim Louise Gauvin
1996
This thesis is a study of the concept,
organization and installation of CORRIDART dans la rue Sherbrooke, which has been
considered the most important art exhibition organized under the Arts and Culture Program
of the Organizing Committee of the 1976 Olympic Games (COJO) in Montreal. The evolution of
this exhibition is examined from the initial concept proposed to its final installation,
and briefly touches upon its premature removal by the city of Montreal. In its infancy,
CORRIDART took the form of a proposal by Fernande Saint-Martin, as a street exhibition.
With the input of COJO and Melvin Charney, this initial concept was developed and modified
to focus on Sherbrooke Street, from Atwater Street to the Olympic site. The exhibition
would highlight the history of the street and would create an air of festivity. This was
achieved by a narrative element which provided archival documentation of Sherbrooke
Street, and by projects by Quebec artists selected through a competition and by
invitation. The artists who participated were subsidized by the Quebec government in the
creation of their CORRIDART projects, which were intended to be displayed from July 7 to
July 31, 1976. CORRIDART consisted of seventeen visual art projects, two performance
areas, two gallery exhibitions and the narrative element which ran the course of the
exhibition. CORRIDART was one of several exhibitions organized for the Olympic
celebration, and is discussed as such in this context. As well, the exhibition is examined
through a comparison between the intentions of the organizers in designing CORRIDART and
the exhibition as it was installed. This includes a sampling of its reception by the press
and public. All efforts have been made to provide as complete a picture of the exhibition
as possible. However as a result of CORRIDART's untimely dismantling, the research
necessary for this documentation was reminiscent of an exhumation. Due to the fragmented
nature of the remaining material, CORRIDART may never be laid to rest.
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