Story
The story of La chorale au Mont began in 2012, driven by the energy of the Occupons Montréal and student protest movements. For the artist's generation, these public debates made room for a profound collective voice that called the educational system into question and, by extension, Quebec society. Gatherings of people took on various forms: huge demonstrations, small discussion groups, communal meals, daily marches, makeshift campsites and, most especially, physical occupation of public space.
Stimulated by that vitality but also exhausted by daily militant activity, arkadi lavoie lachapelle created La chorale, a cradle bench made of linden wood. Inspired by old rocking chairs and handcrafted with the assistance of the cabinetmaker Gilles Rivard, it is light, easily dismantled and seats 20. It is a performative space that keeps alive the memory of solidarity in social engagement and collective struggle by offering the physical experience of a shared rhythm. Getting a rocking motion underway calls for "power from within" rather than "power over" and involves negotiating (not always without resistance) with everyone on the bench, which implies that even while taking pleasure in the rocking movement, we can also share it with others.
After some presentations in cultural centres and a few years in storage, in 2015 the artist suggested to the Verticale arts centre that it be installed in Laval in a site not usually intended for arts display. With the support of Verticale and the art teacher Fabrice Landry, Mont de la Salle secondary school agreed to place the piece in the entrance hall of the school from October 2015 to October 2016.
The school community very quickly appropriated the piece as an integral part of the living space. At lunchtime and during breaks, both teenagers and adults would be on the bench, talking, eating, playing, reading, writing or waiting. Without being immediately aware of it, the piece generated a spirit of community. Passersby – students, teachers, visitors, the public attending concerts – would spontaneously sit on the bench, rocking back and forth together.
The impact of that work of art in the school was such that in October 2016, sixty adolescents in the school's student parliament, who represent their peers, voted in support of a motion proposed by Édith Beatrice Alexandru (gr. 405) and seconded by Labiba Malik (gr. 501). The proposal was that the school acquire the cradle bench for permanent display, a resolution ratified by the school's board of directors. It reads in part:
The Parlement du Mont […] hopes that, in bequeathing this work of art to future generations at the school over the next 100 years, it will continue to convey the notions of community, of living together, of sharing.
Mont de la Salle secondary school is an international hive where 70% of students are first or second generation immigrants. La chorale thus becomes the symbol of a desire to build a harmonious community through its implicit invitation to get people to sit down together, twenty at a time, thus immediately creating a micro community.
As of spring 2018 the process of raising funds and purchasing the piece is still underway. The new version of La chorale au Mont will be built in partnership with the cabinetmaker Natacha Chamko and the Atelier Clark so that it can withstand the daily rocking of a hundred students and also last a hundred years.
