Friday Nocturnes: Misstress Barbara and Girls on a Ducati

An all-women programming at MAC for this winter block

A few years ago, the Musée D’Art Contemporain gave Montreal an exciting new initiative: the first Friday of each month would feature an act performing inside the museum itself. I remember those first few Nocturnes well. There was a palpable energy in the room. Just as the aesthetic of a dark, sweaty bar lends something to punk rock, the environment at the MAC lends something to everything.

Recently I spoke with the MAC’s Wanda Palma about the Nocturnes to get a bit more perspective.

How long have the Friday Nocturnes been going on now? What’s the aim of the Nocturnes?

They’ve been going on since June 2006. Usually there are about nine nocturnes per year, and they’re always the first Friday of every month. That’s the offer. They’re evenings from 5-9 [p.m.] where people can come in and view the exhibitions that are on view, have a drink, and listen to music. It’s a new way of visiting the museum and appropriating the space—a little more casual.

The talent is usually Montreal-based. That makes sense—you promote local talent and a local museum at the same time. Have you given thought to opening up the Nocturnes to foreign acts?

There is still so much talent to seek here in Montreal and [we want] to welcome Montreal talent. We still haven’t gotten to the end of that. Right now we are focusing on Montreal alone.

What has the general reaction to the Nocturnes been? Do the events traditionally fill up?

I’ve been twice and my experience has been that it’s really great fun. It’s a different way of seeing the museum. This is how people feel as well. The doors open for the Nocturnes at 5, and the show doesn’t start until 7:30, but people come in at 5. [Though they’ve been going on for years] interest has not dwindled in any way. We still have excellent, record crowds, so we’re very happy.

I believe it's important for your curators to bring the right act in at the right time. I think I know why you're going with Misstress Barbara and Girls on a Ducati but maybe you could expound.

We are opening up three solo shows tomorrow [February 1, 2012], and they are three women artists: Ghada Amer, Valérie Blass and Wangechi Mutu. So we have here three women artists and we’re opening their show tomorrow. We currently have—in the Projection Series in our Beverly Webster Hall, we also have another female artist who is showing: Althea Thauberger. Essentially what we’ve done is to have an all-women proposal, an all-women programming for this winter block. All these fabulous artists compliment each other in a way and bring us new insight and give us a new vision: their take on society, on life, on their reality.