DAZIBAO, CENTRE DE PHOTOGRAPHIES ACTUELLES

Dazibao is a centre dedicated to the dissemination of contemporary photography and its related art forms.

Increasingly, Dazibao positions itself in an in-between space: a median zone where the borders between the various disciplines tied to the image fade away to allow for the emergence of hybrid artistic practices and composite thinking. Dazibao promotes exchange between disciplines and multi-disciplinary artistic practices as a way of enabling the development of other ways of thinking about the image and to stimulate the opening of a new way of grasping reality. In a context where we speak increasingly about the image within a wider framework, one that now extends over several art practices, this approach allows us to discern important developments within the contemporary arts and to engage in a more profound and critical reflection that can define and even defy the very notion of photography.

Dazibao is committed to exhibiting a broad spectrum of work ranging from practices with a strong conceptual basis, to installation, to work that embraces the most recent technological advancements in the production and diffusion of images. The centre welcomes artists from Quebec, Canada and abroad. Dazibao serves as both a launching pad for young artists and as an ideal space for more established artists to initiate and present exhibitions with an experimental approach. As well, in order to continually offer differing views on contemporary photography, Dazibao annually invites an artist to curate an exhibition for the event Carte grise.

As a publisher, Dazibao posits the book as an alternate site for the dissemination and discussion of contemporary photographic practices, addressing the challenges posed by an image culture that is increasingly becoming the basis of our relation to reality. Dazibao has published approximately forty major publications, most of which fall into one of our four series: Des photographes, Les essais, Les études and Les portables. In addition to these, we periodically publish texts to accompany individual exhibitions.

Since its inception in 1980, Dazibao has organised more than 400 events including exhibitions, performances, launches, readings, conferences, concerts, guided tours, meetings with the artists, and, more recently, numerous collaborations with artistic organisations from here and abroad. The centre acts as a link between artists, curators, theorists, authors, critics, the university and college communities, the artistic milieu and the general public. Dazibao is a site for exchange and research, a gallery, a publisher and an archival information centre.

Director: France Choinière
Assistant to the director : Celia Perrin Sidarous
Exhibition Coordinator: Amélie Brault
Fundraising: Jennifer Pham
Technician: Christian Bujold

Board
Sophie Bélair-Clément, Vincent Bonin, Jean-Claude Bustros, France Choinière, Pavel Pavlov, Alana Riley and Michèle Thériault.

External Board
Penny Cousineau-Levine, Tim Lee, Kelly Mark

Dazibao thanks its members and supporters. Dazibao is funded by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal et le Service de la culture de la Ville de Montréal.

Dazibao is a member of the Regroupement des centres d'artistes autogérés du Québec.

The works that appear within this site are protected by copyright and their reproduction is strictly forbidden.