The Maison LePailleur in Châteauguay was the victim of an act of vandalism on the night of 16 August. The Boîte aux lettres alvéolaires (honeycomb letterbox) by artist Tali Lévesque, which was installed in the grounds, has been vandalized.
Translation Amanda Bennett
“It’s a work of art and it’s hard to explain. Vandals attack objects and symbols to send a message. Here it’s gratuitous. It’s an action that publicly attacks the whole mission of the museum to share, educate, (make it a place) that’s inclusive. It’s a very violent act,” says the museum’s General Manager, Karine Landerman. Employees noticed the mischief when they arrived at work on August 17th.
Not an Isolated Incident
The vandalism of Tali Lévesque’s work is not the first incident, said Ms. Landerman. The site has been the target of mischief since the start of the summer season. It’s never been so bad,” recounted Ms. Landerman, referring to the ransacking of the work on the night of August 16th to 17th. I’ve been in post for 16 years now, and the sum total of mischief since June far exceeds that of the last 16 years.”
Increasing Security
Maison LePailleur has no equipment to ensure the security of its premises. The management intends to remedy the situation in order to “have investigative leads”, such as increasing the lighting on the premises and installing surveillance cameras. “For the moment, there are rounds of surveillance by the community, including our partners at the City, volunteers and neighbours. I think people have a deep attachment to the museum,” says the General Manager.
History of the Work
The honeycomb letterbox has been on the grounds of the Musée LePailleur since 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum asked artist Tali Lévesque to “create a bespoke work” to reach out to the community while the museum was closed. During the first wave of the pandemic, members of the public had the opportunity to leave their thoughts with the museum in doors in the work itself, thus breaking the isolation.
It is still too early to know what will become of Tali Lévesque’s work, most of which has been destroyed. Ms. Landerman spoke of creating an artefact from materials that may be salvageable.