Kä Galerie took place in a residence rich in a cultural past. The construction of the residence, in 1998, gave rise to interesting discoveries: the foundations of the chimney of a manor that had caught fire more than 30 years earlier: the Manoir Boréal Val-Menaud.
Indeed, in the 1940’s, a lawyer from Jonquière, Georges Larouche, owned this large log cabin frequented by great artists. Passionate about poetry, the lawyer received, among others, Gilles Vigneault, Pauline Julien and Félix Leclerc, who was a regular of the place. In 1949, Charles Trenet, the “singing madman”, arrived there to give a concert that the little history of the place would not soon forget. Three years later, in Trenet’s footsteps lay the heels of the American artist Bing Crosby, who had set out a tour of Canada.
In the 1950’s, the heart of Val-Menaud beat to the rhythm of the singers, poets and artists who performed there to the delight of the people from Saguenay (Saguenéens) who had never seen such great ones so closely.
It is also in these places that René Gagnon, Thérèse Brassard and Riopelle painted, in the art center of the Manoir Boréal Val-Menaud, created by Larouche, who was also a lover of the arts. The history of the place is therefore strongly associated with culture.
The Manoir Boréal was destroyed by fire in 1965. However, the memory of that time is still very much alive. And it is in the same place that is now erected the residence that hosts Kä Galerie and it is quite a pride to revive the cultural memory in these places! and it is quite a pride to revive the cultural memory in these places!
Special thanks to Marie Gagnon for the story and images.
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