Future-Past is Now & Shadow Play present the artistic outcomes of the Empreintes committees, a youth initiative by ENSEMBLE for the respect of diversity that fosters youth empowerment around issues of inclusion, diversity, and equity.
Since June 2026, two youth committees have been exploring identity, ancestral heritage, representation, and social justice through dialogue and creative expression. Primarily composed of individuals from BIPOC and/or queer communities, participants transform their experiences into collective works and actions, guided by Rodrigo D’Alcântara, committee coordinator and project curator.
Future-Past is Now — October 2026 From October 15 to 31
A two-week micro-exhibition features animated short films, collage, and video mapping created by Committee 1 around ancestral reconnection and diasporic experiences. The programming includes creative workshops and a zine fair organized by Committee 2 on October 21.
Shadow Play — December 2026
A multidisciplinary performance by Committee 1 explores multicultural ancestry, memory, and embodied narrative through dance and costume design. In parallel, Committee 2 presents a performance-fashion show featuring upcycled and transformed garments, turning fashion into a space for personal and collective identity expression.
Curator: Rodrigo D’Alcântara
Assisted by Nerjis Hassan
Artists: Nerjis Hassan, Neko Wong-Houle, Amen Iyadi, Julia Xin Yu Albert Janson, Michael Ji, Carla Rojas and Cléa Virondaud.
Future-Past is Now (Futur antérieur) presents the artistic outcomes of the summer cycle of the Empreintes committees, a youth initiative led by the organization ENSEMBLE for the Respect of Diversity that aims to empower young people around issues of inclusion, diversity, and equity. In a present so fraught with conflicting discourses worldwide, but also eager for hope and intergenerational dialogue, the artists reflect on their genealogical trajectories through interventions in family archives, digital experiments, and speculative narratives. From June to September 2026, two youth committees met weekly to explore themes related to identity, ancestral heritage, and representation through collective dialogue and creative practices. Primarily composed of young people from BIPOC and/or queer communities, participants reflected on experiences of identity, ancestry, multiculturalism, and immigration, transforming their personal experiences into artistic expressions and collective actions.
Led by Rodrigo D’Alcântara, committee coordinator and project curator, the initiative combines facilitated discussions and creative workshops, accompanying participants as they develop their ideas into artistic projects. The occupation of Caserne 26 offers a unique opportunity to share the outcomes of the summer cycle through a two-week micro-exhibition featuring short stop-motion animated films and digital collages created by Committee 1 (Ancestral in Prints), focusing on ancestral reconnection and diasporic experiences.
The Iraqi-Canadian artist Nerjis Hassan presents the animation Poisson du monde. Through complex sentimental layers and techniques, the artist gets inspired by lived and retold memories to evoke the story of her ancestors' migration to Canada and how the material culture, habitats, and archives of her family still impact who she is today. Through this symbolistic, vibrantly textured piece, the effects of migration on heritage are nodded to. Neko Wong-Houle's Limbo presents various digital collages also coming from family archives that are interwoven and reimagined to explore the artist’s personal journey to reflect on their childhood divided between Indigenous and Chinese-Canadian ancestries.
Amen Iyadi’s Filial Piety (ọmọ ti dàgbà) showcases a yearning tradition and return to the ancestral. Through an ingenious micro-universe where Nigerian cosmologies, Yoruba pantheons, and Afro-futuristic aesthetics are combined, the video reflects on the ways that ancestral reconnection can provide guidance for adulthood and self-identity. Julia Xin Yu Albert Janson, untitled piece, displays the artist knitting while a robotic voice poses existential questions. Her own archival material is brought together with her family’s photographs to explore the links between the past and the present beyond blood ties.
Michael Ji’s 老外 (lǎowài) brings a playful mood to the show, as he presents a reconnection to his Chinese ancestry through food elements and urban imprints. Ji’s digital collages recall the inner child and the cognitive confusion brought by living between two diverging cultures, while the title evokes how he can be considered a foreigner to his ancestors, growing up as a Chinese Canadian. Carla Rojas’ Where are you from? explores her intercultural Peruvian roots, analyzed through a personal lens on different timelines that shaped her identity. Clea Virondaud’s Who were you? takes the public on a journey to investigate unknown ancestors and how they can still somehow find us. The artist imprints her unique, crafty aesthetic to create different layers of memory and time. Finally, Future-Past is Now (Futur antérieur) offers a rich portrait of Montreal's youth and their individual quests for self-understanding and ancestral links.
Text by Rodrigo D’Alcântara, curator
Revised by Nerjis Hassan, curatorial assistant
