Graduate student uses art and research to explore Calgary's evolving Francophone identity

Although Calgary is not often associated with Canada's French-speaking heritage, the community of Mission was once a thriving French-Canadian settlement known as Rouleauville.

Hidden in plain sight, the historic home of Dr. Rouleau is now an architectural landmark for Calgary's Francophone community and will soon host an art installation and research project by transdisciplinary master's student Sabine Lecorre-Moore.

She is using her research project, called Vestige, Village and Visage, to showcase Calgary's Francophone community and history.

An artistic approach to academic research

Lecorre-Moore describes her approach to research as extending beyond traditional academic methods to explore new ways of understanding community identity and connection. Her goal was not to quantify information, but to share the stories of a community in a way that initiates conversations that continue after the formal aspect of her research concludes.

Using a methodology known as research-creation, which blends academic study and artistic practice, Lecorre-Moore is bridging the disciplines of art and anthropology to help visualize this historic community.

"The research-creation concept works really well with transdisciplinary study as I'm using art for gathering data," she explains. "I'm also using art as a process all the way to the final output."

Vestige, Village and Visage

For her project, Lecorre-Moore has taken portraits of people from Calgary's diverse Francophone community and transferred the photos to linen by a silk-screening process. Printing on linen was an important anthropological choice for this project.

"I am working with linen, which was a traditional fabric for the Francophone people," she says. "It has so much symbolism to use fiber to do this project. And bringing people on one piece of fabric is quite special."

Lecorre-Moore was pleasantly surprised by the reaction when she put out the call for participants. She had 50 volunteers come out for portraits and found they all came ready to share their own stories.

The conversation continues

Her hope is that the stories don't end there. When completed, Lecorre-Moore will install her tapestry at the historic house of Dr. Rouleau. The stories that emerge from the creation and presentation of this research are the outcome she hopes to achieve.

"People coming to an opening and people sharing stories, that's how I will know if the project worked," she explains. "When people see the result of whatever I did, they start telling their story."