Catherine Cyr and Katya Montaignac

The Humility of the Dandelion – Weed Banquet

Interdisciplinary

Public presentation: Friday 30 May 2025, 5:00 PM

DesPrés — 57 Principale Nord Street, Sutton, QC

Public presentation

Art, the Street, Humans, Dogs with Annie Landreville
The Humility of the Dandelion – Weed Banquet with Catherine and Katya

In a friendly open studio atmosphere, they will share with you the vibrant poetry of their words and excerpts from the brand new manuscript that Annie Landreville will have created during her residency. Ecosomatic walk, surprising tasting, and performative co-writing around ordinary nature!

Biography

Since 2019, Catherine Cyr and Katya Montaignac have cultivated a collaborative work around eco-dramaturgies, weaving their respective practices and perspectives (literature/dance; eco-poetics/eco-somatics) through the groups Bodytext/Textualités du corps (2015-2019), then AvEQ (Arts vivants et écologie au Québec, 2019-2024). They nurture a common relationship to the “more-than-human” through a literary and videographic performance (Éprouver l’aporie, 2021), a series of performative essays, and the co-writing of a text (S’écrire dans l’écorce, forthcoming). They also conceived and co-taught the seminar “With the Other-than-Human: Co-presences and Attentional Practices in Art” for the PhD in Arts Studies and Practices at UQAM.

Approach

Following a correspondence about humble devices, their artistic approach explores ordinary nature, particularly through their relationships (emotional, poetic, somatic, and gustatory) with certain virtuous plants unjustly considered as “weeds” such as dandelion and Japanese knotweed. As urban dwellers and academics, it will be a matter for them to adopt a decentering posture towards minoritized presences in order to sharpen their relationship to an unknown territory as “a knowledge that connects [them]” (Zhong Mengual, 2021). Taking the time to listen and allow themselves to be surprised by unexpected encounters with the environment.