Apsetkwecht/Upsalquitch
Small river
Artists
Pauline Dugas
Anne Crossman
Upsalquitch
Upsalquitch : place of tall pines, sacred symbol.
At the edge of Mount Carleton,named Sagamook,the highest one in the Maritimes, we have the source and the Lake Upsalquitch.
On the banks of Lake Nictau at Mount Carleton Park, malecites religious ceremonies are held to commemorate the sunrise. There, on those high peaks, their prayers get quickly to the ears of the gods.
The Upsalquitch region, so many Acadians come by.
The Irish too.
Place of fishing and the float.
Sawmill and blood of saw.
Upsalquitch, slow hillside to climb between Campbellton and Kedgwick.
Like retaking of the region.
Kedgwick, near by, in Mi’kmaq means: inconvenient currents or meeting of the two rivers.
At the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.
Upsalquitch makes us dream about hunting, fishing and music.
In the malecite tepee rocking themselves to the dream catchers.
Upsalquitch like a mantra.
Like the Upsalquitch river that flows into the Restigouche in two places.
Upsalquitch, place of beauty, a sanctuary.
Under the giant pines, a soft bed of pine needles and cones.
To relax and smoke the pipe of peace.
So the bluish wreath can draw the future in the sky.
Pauline Dugas
Caraquet, N.B.
Pauline Dugas is a native of Caraquet, New Brunswick. She is a painter, illustrator and author of two books of poetry: Fragment d'eau and Charpente matinale. For the past twenty years, she has been the artistic director of the Festival des arts visuels en Atlantique (FAVA).
Her favourite theme in painting and poetry is the seasonal cycle of nature and life; the transformation inherent in all things.
In recent years, she has illustrated several children's books; Appi lutin parfumeur, Appi et le parfum puant, Nouel à Turkeytown and in 2021, she produced the illustrations for the children's book written by Marilou Savoie, Nova et la mission verte published in 2022 by La Grande Marée.
Among her most recent creative projects, a popular art project Les grands Escogriffes twelve giant puppets exhibited at the IGA. This project was realized in collaboration with Bernard Dugas for the Festival acadien de Caraquet); and presented in the Grand Tintamarre de Caraquet as part of an animation.
In 2021 she took part in the creative residency Le Vivant organized by the Maison de la littérature in Quebec City and the Festival acadien de poésie de Caraquet; and produced a creative project entitled Femme et longicorne. As part of this project, she produced four works on the theme of life.
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The work she created for the exhibition Irréductibles racines is inspired by the Mi'kmaq origin of the name "Caraquet".
It is through several generations that the meaning of the two rivers originates. The artist has remained sensitive to the realities of this world through family and childhood. Children are beautiful, because the reflection that comes through their eyes borrows all the poetry of their real territory as well as their inner territory. With strength and gentleness, the artist speaks to us, through this work, of the need to inhabit one's inner world without compromise.
Anne Crossman
First Nation
Eel Ground, N.B.
Anne Crossman is an artist from the Eel Ground First Nation in New Brunswick. She was raised by her widowed mother and grandmother, along with her three sisters and three brothers. Both her mother and grandmother had a profound influence on her artistic creation.
Anne Crossman is enrolled at Thomson Direct Education in Montreal, where she is studying garment making and design.
Anne Crossman's work has been featured on Eastern Tide on the Aboriginal People's Television Network.
Original pieces by this artist can be found in Ecuador, England and also in the United States.
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Within the framework of the exhibition Irréductibles racines, the artist is associated with the name "Upsalquitch".