© Kinga Michalska and Sarah Chouinard-Poirier, Feu de paille · Słomiany zapał · The Last Straw, video still (2026)
Kinga Michalska and Sarah Chouinard-Poirier
Feu de paille · Słomiany zapał · The Last Straw
From February 11 to April 3, 2027
Opening on February 11 at 6 pm
Drawing on histories of conceptual art, percussive practice, and structural film, Lisa Lipton's exhibition Rhythm of Numbers considers drumming as a language, exploring how In early twentieth-century Poland, chłopomania described the intelligentsia's fascination with peasant life. It was characterized by a neoromantic fetishization of rurality and folklore which intersected with an emergence of nationalist and revolutionary thought. In Feu de paille · Słomiany zapał · The Last Straw, Kinga Michalska and Sarah Chouinard-Poirier reactivate this concept to explore the contemporary desire to “return to the land” in the context of settler colonialism, climate collapse, late capitalism, and the rise of fascism. In addition to a new video piece Chochoły, the exhibition comprises Pologne-en-Québec, a mockumentary about a commune of queer Québécois and Polish people attempting to remodel their lives according to their ideals; and Wesele, in which the same characters stage a bric-à-brac adaptation of the Polish theatre classic—a process that tests the limits of solidarity, creativity, precarity, and exhaustion.
Kinga Michalska is a Polish queer filmmaker and visual artist based in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal. They hold an MFA in Photography from Concordia University and a BA in Cultural Studies from the University of Warsaw. Their work has been showcased in numerous festivals and exhibitions worldwide, including in Canada, Poland, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany. Their debut feature documentary, BEDROCK, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won the Best Polish Film Award at Millennium Docs Against Gravity (Warsaw).
Sarah Chouinard-Poirier is an artist based in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal who approaches performance, film and writing in an indisciplinary manner. Their work has been presented at Fonderie Darling (Montreal), DRAC (Drummondville), and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; in several artist-run centres in Quebec, including AXENÉO7, Centre CLARK, Caravansérail, VU, and Ada X; at performance and performing arts festivals such as OFFTA and VIVA! Art Action (Montreal); as well as in numerous conferences, drinking establishments, self-managed spaces, and hybrid/unconventional venues across Quebec, Mexico, and Poland.
Other exhibition
Susan Brockman
From February 11 to April 3, 2027
Dazibao thanks the artists for their generous collaboration as well as its advisory committee for their support.
Dazibao receives financial support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications and the Ville de Montréal. Dazibao acknowledges that it is located on the unceded territory of the Kanien'kehá: ka Nation and that Tiohtiá:ke / Montreal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations, and today, is home to a diverse population of Indigenous as well as other peoples. Guided by ethics of respect, listening, and awareness, Dazibao commits to a continued reflection regarding the deep-rooted and systemic challenges tied to accessibility and inclusivity in the arts and beyond, and endeavors to apply such reflections to all aspects of its activities and governance.