Adrienne Clarkson to deliver poetic end to MAC's Leonard Cohen exhibition

Montreal'sMused'artcontemporain(MAC) is saying goodbye to its most ambitious, expensive and popular exhibition ever with a Leonard Cohen-focused symposium featuringformer governor generalAdrienneClarkson.

Starting Friday, the Max and Iris Stern International Symposiumbringstogether Cohen experts from around the world.

It comes just days beforeLeonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything closes April 12.

The symposiumfeatures an opening address bythe former governor general and journalist.

MAC director and chief curator JohnZeppetellisaid he'd been trying to getClarksonto visit the museum a long time.She finally came for the Cohenexhibitionand stayed for two full days, soaking it in.

Clarkson's friendship with Cohen spanned half a century, and an early incarnation of it can be seen in CBC archival footage from the 1960s.

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58 years ago

Duration 11:28

Adrienne Clarkson interviews Leonard Cohen after the publication of his second novel.

In the decades after that interview was recorded,the two became close, andClarksonmade a documentary about Cohen in 1989 called simplyLeonard.

Part of it was filmed in his Plateau-Mont-Royal home, with the two sitting at the kitchen table as he assembledan anthology he wanted to callA New Selection.

She suggested it could more accurately be calledEverything that isn't Embarrassing,orSaved from a Fire.

He thought she was joking, and she insisted she wasn't. Stranger Music was released in 1993.

• Montreal's Leonard Cohen comes home

Clarkson'spresentation at the symposium is entitledLeonard Cohen As I Knew Him.

"Adrienne, with all of her regal qualities, will deliver a powerful human touch with her 50-year connection [to Cohen]," said Zeppetelli.

The symposium continues all day Saturday at Concordia University, with presentations and discussions with Cohen scholars, biographers and museum experts.

Most popular exhibition in MAC's history

Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everythingbrought in more than 260,000 visitors, puttingthe MAC on track to have a record year.

Zeppetelli said he knows all good things come to an end, but he'll still "be suffering intensely" as it closes. He added that he is still hasn't had enough of the exhibition, which opened last November.

"There's just so much, such a wealth of feeling and intelligence to be gleaned from the many rooms in the museum at the moment,"he said.

• The insider's guide to MAC's Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything

Zeppetellispent almost three years preparing the exhibitionand working with artists from around the world who createdunique pieces inspired by the late poet and singer.

"It's been one of the great professional experiences of my life," he said.

The dark and moody exhibition opened last November when Montreal was commemorating the anniversary of Cohen's death with a series of high-profile events.

Forty artists from 10 countries were brought on board to produce works, drawing inspiration from Cohen's life and art.

The works are reflections on Cohen's legacy whichrevisit his contribution tothe cultural conversation.

• A year after Leonard Cohen's death, Montreal's MAC takes critical look at cultural icon

Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything closes April 12. The MAC's extended hours are available here.