la marche nuptiale (2013)

Performance - 2 days

After their wedding in October 2012, Ariane Boulet and Eduardo Ruiz Vergara embarked on a long and arduous immigration journey to give Eduardo the possibility to live and work in Canada, as well as have access to Canadian healthcare. Motivated by their desire to find beauty in this alienating process, Ariane and Eduardo chose to transform their personal situation into an artistic proposal articulated around the theme of migration. They took on a long voyage, on foot, towards Bogota, the city where Eduardo was born. Their journey ended up totalling only 72 kilometres, from Montreal to the American border, where Eduardo was denied entry into the United States, while Ariane was authorised to continue on her way, certainly all the way to her destination. A photography exhibit and a performance were inspired by this trip to highlight the power of institutions on bodies and territory, making the return to the homeland – on foot – impossible.

“Separation comes from talking. There is space, footsteps, and another space.”
- Marina Abramovic

credits

Concept | Ariane Boulet
Artistic direction and performance | Ariane Boulet & Eduardo Ruiz Vergara
Photography | Andréa de Keijzer
Authors | Ariane Boulet, Joannie Douville, Jade Marquis, Gabriel Vignola
Dressmaker | Manon Payette

Presentations

2015 | Exposition Salonesque | MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), Montréal, QC
2013 | Exposition performative | ATSA | place Émilie-Gamelin, Montréal, QC
2013 | Performance réalisée dans les véritables habits de notre mariage jusqu’à la frontière de Lacolle les 29 et 30 mars 2013

acknowledgments

Thank you to the MAI and ATSA for their support in creating La marche nuptiale. Thanks to Michel Séguin for his passion and investment in this project. Thanks to Joannie Douville, Andréa de Keijzer and Jessica Viau for their invaluable presence in the making of this performance, for their love and their trust.