Mapping the stories of Montreal neighbourhoods

When we think about telling a personal story, it's unlikely that we would choosea map to do it.

But that is exactly what Montreal-based visual artist Emmanuelle Jacquesis doing. She is collectingresidents' memories of their Verdun and Pierrefonds-Roxboro neighbourhoodsand creating a huge mural-like map out of them.

Jacques was invited to work on the ongoing project calledHistoiresCroiss as part of a series of 32 exhibitionsdedicated to Montreal's 375th anniversary.

"I think a map is always a good display to start storytelling," Jacques told CBC Montreal'sDaybreak.

"It really calls for a personal experience right away. And I think that people need to express themselves."

Map of memories as work-in-progress

Several times a week, Jacques goes to two community centres in Pierrefonds and Verdun to work on her maps.While she works, residents pass by, seeher map, and stop by toshare their own memories.

She would also go explorethe neighbourhoods, collecting memories from people as she went.

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Many of the stories are told by seniors who lived through transformations in both Verdun and Pierrefonds-Roxboro. Yet, in both regions, the proximity to water and the presence of nature remain important to the residents, according to Jacques.

Many of them are reminiscent of the animals and birds that lived in the neighbourhoods before the regions became urbanized.

To Jacques, who lives in Petite-Parie, mapping residents' memories becomes an exploration of a different side of Montreal.

The artist uses her background in printmaking to create stamps of waves, trees, and houses inorder to portray people's stories in a creative way. She lets the storytellers draw their memories on a draft that she later uses for the actual mural-map.

One of her favourite stories from a resident of the Nun's Islandin Verdunis about a mountain that emerged when the Montreal Metro was being built.

During the construction, the leftover soil accumulated in one spot and created what was dubbed"Mont Soleil"that residents later climbed up to watch the sunset. Now, that same spot is home to condo buildings.

A young girl told Jacques about a tree near her school near the Elgar community centre in Verdun.

"They call it a treasure tree, because there's a hole in it and they can sometimes find money there," Jacques said.

"That's something I'm definitely going to put on the map."

Jacques' neighbourhood mapping project is running until Aug.11 at the Centre communautaire Elgaron Nuns' Island and until Aug.27 in Centre communautaire de Pierrefonds.

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