Sepagunchiche/Shippagan
Passage of the ducks
Artists
Joël Boudreau
Shawn McBain
Shippagan
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Chipagan, Shippegan, Shippagan...
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From mi’kmaq language sepagunchiche or chipaganchiche : ducks flying over.
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Perpetual migration, round-trip of the Acadians, just like the osprey who’s coming back to nest on the tall poles along the roads.
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The saga of 1755 with Jean-Baptiste Robichaud : Port-Royal, Virginia, England, France, the Falklands, Martinique. In Shippagan in 1793 with her Félicité Cyr.
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Region of headlands that extends in the ocean.
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Pointe Brûlée, Pointe Sauvage, Pointe à Barnache, Pointe à Rosanne.
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And Le Goulet previously the New Jerusalem.
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Also the ancestors elm and La Hêtrière, previous name of downtown.
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Remember also the old crucifix carved in the wood of the church in 1822.
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And the comforting heat of the wood-burning stoves in the one-room schoolhouses.
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Omnipresence of fishing to the sound of the sails flapping and the boat engine.
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Attempt to free ourselves from the Loggie, the Robins, the tradition of the fishing industries.
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Slavery a slow recovery towards the light.
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Time of the United Church.
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Alcohol trafficking with Saint-Pierre et Miquelon.
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In 1927, transatlantic flight of the Italian Pinedo and his seaplane.
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Shippagan, region of black cape and of peat bogs.
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In 1948, comes the Collège Jésus-Marie for girls; children grow up at the university campus.
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And the survival is embellished with pastries from the bakery and the Café royal.
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Crab previously known as the unwanted become the jewel and the trademark; Basile Roussel from Le Goulet initiates a small Klondike.
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The Coastal Zone’s Research Institute is set for a bright future.
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The ocean and the wind have sculpted the region of Shippagan and of Michel Conte.
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The boats are building up crowns around the spellbinding docks.
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Just like the Canada goose, gorgeous bird, Shippagan is hard to catch.
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But when the town opens up, she is loyal, warm and generous.
Joël Boudreau
Ottawa, Ont.
Joël Boudreau has been sculpting since the age of 12. Originally from Dunlop, NB and currently living in Ottawa. He started his career carving wood. After, he completed a Bachelor in Fine Arts at University of Moncton and pursued computer design at Cégep Ste-Foy (Quebec). His artistic journey leads him to Paris in 1997, where he deepens his computer illustration skills in a design company. In 2000, he traveled to Africa, where he explores the basics of bronze casting’s ancient techniques. He also took classes to learn the basics of Blacksmith, jewelry, sculpture and patinas. Simultaneously, he made illustrations for children's books.
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Winner of several grants from the Arts Council of New Brunswick and the Arts Council of Canada, he created numerous sculptural and installatives works using wood, metal, stone and other recycled materials and articles. His works are part of the New Brunswick Art Bank and Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen Art Gallery. He exhibited in New Brunswick, Quebec and France. In 2010-2011, he received the Éloize Award’s Artist of the Year in Visual Arts (New Brunswick). He has also participated several times in the Atlantic Visual Arts Festival in Caraquet, New Brunswick.
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His artistic universe reflects a spiritual quest centered around concerns and existential issues about human’s place in society. In 2013, Joel Boudreau has created a monumental work, for University of Moncton, about the relationship between doctors, patients and environment. Always searching to deepen his artistic approach, Joel went to an art’s creation workshop in Banff’s Arts Center (Alberta) in 2013. So far, he continues to explore his creativity and innovate through an exploration of new materials and subjects which can be converted into a work of art.
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The work he created for the Irreductibles racines exhibition is inspired by the Mi'kmaq origin of the name "Shippagan".
Shawn McBain
First Nation
Eel River Bar, N.B.
Shawn McBain is an artist from the Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick.
Shawn McBain draws much of his inspiration from music, primarily the flute. His greatest musical performance was during the opening ceremonies of the Canada Winter Games.
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A talented visual artist, he creates beautiful pieces of burned wood in which he incorporates drawings and imagery that he has developed over the years. His talent is recognized and his work is now part of several private collections in New Brunswick First Nations communities.
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The work he created for the exhibition Irreducibles racines is inspired by the Mi'kmaq origin of the name "Shippagan".