Aeria blends art and history to present eight noteworthy characters of the Plains | A new exhibition at the Plains of Abraham Museum

Quebec City, Quebec, June 15, 2022 – The Plains of Abraham Museum is proud to announce the opening of Aeria a new exhibition that blends art and history to present eight noteworthy characters of the Plains. This is the first major exhibition to be opened there since 2017. It is an original production of the Plains of Abraham Museum and is a joint effort with sculptor and artist Jérôme Trudelle.

For Aeria, this budding artist has used his eyes and talent to resurrect characters who lived at different times and who are related in one way or another to the park’s heritage. Those men and women are brought to life by full-size hanging sculptures, which were made by means of photogrammetry. They are astounding in their poetic realism. In the words of Jean Robert, the Chair of the National Battlefields Commission, “art has been placed in the service of history to offer an exhibition that will contribute to our mission of developing the Battlefields Park and its heritage.”

Emotionally and visually compelling, the works of art will transform the way people have traditionally perceived those characters, while providing excerpts from their life stories in a setting that supports learning and understanding. Visitors can use an interactive tablet app to dive into the world of these characters and experience the artist’s interpretation of them through explanatory videos, games, and archival photos. As visitors make their way through the exhibition, they will hear background music that sound designer Josué Beaucage has created for each work of art.

This art is the brainchild of Jérôme Trudelle, a visual artist from the Quebec City area who sees sculpture as a means to tell stories. Like a freeze frame that captures a single shot from a film scene, his artwork provides a glimpse into the outcome of an interplay between several hanging objects. He created Aeria through a collaborative effort with his partner Émile Prince and with La Chambre Blanche (an artist-run centre in Quebec City) and its laboratory head Carl-Dave Lagotte.

The characters of Aeria show different aspects of the history of the Plains of Abraham. Around 1620, Marguerite Martin came to New France—the Plains are named after her husband Abraham Martin—and gave birth to the colony’s first baby. The same period introduces us to Michel Sarrazin, who was one of Canada’s first botanists and who identified and catalogued the local plant species. A century separates their stories from those of Montcalm and Wolfe, the generals who faced each other at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. The battle was witnessed by Petit Étienne, who would leave the only known Indigenous account of the fighting. Several years later, in 1763, La Corriveau was convicted and hanged on the Plains for murder—a story that would give rise to the famous legend that bears her name. At the turn of the 20th century, Mr. Marcoux, a peace officer, entered the history of the Plains as a resident of Martello Tower 4 with his family. Soon after is the story of Ms. Parent, who worked at the Federal Arsenal from 1916 to 1938. This was when an ammunition factory stood at the same site where major events are now held, behind the Plains of Abraham Museum.

Aeria is one of several exhibitions offered by the Plains of Abraham Museum. The others include Battles 1759-1760 and Identities, as well as the summer exhibition Attention! at the Martello Tower 1. The new exhibition is meant for one and all, including art lovers, history buffs, and Quebec residents who wish to discover the Plains from another angle—and end up being surprised by some of the more poorly known aspects of the park’s history!