ART AND HEALTH ACCORDING TO NATHALIE BONDIL - 2022

 NATHALIE BONDIL IS BACK IN MONTREAL... 

By Bernard Bujold - Nathalie Bondil, former director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, is back in Montreal for a week as part of a seminar (summer school) entitled "Arts and health: the place of museotherapy". 

This training, on the benefits of visual arts in health, is offered from August 29 to September 2 at the University of Montreal for teachers, students, health professionals and is under the direction of Nathalie Bondil. 

The arts can contribute to improving people's health and well-being, various studies conclude, and based on these convincing results, museologist and curator Nathalie Bondil wishes to promote the "vision of a museum that does good" and bring museum therapy into the practices of health professionals. Personally, 

I have always considered art to be a source of health rejuvenation and I fully agree with her concept. At the MBAM, in Nathalie Bondil's time, I had three specific paintings that I visited regularly and that inspired me positively in terms of my health. I have also always enjoyed visiting churches for their artwork. But my most inspiring work of art remains my mascot Ulysses, which is a magnificent bronze sculpture... 

Enjoy your stay in Montreal, and congratulations to you Nathalie for the art therapy concept. 

SEE WEBSITE 

https://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/article/2022/06/21/la-premiere-ecole-d-ete-alliant-l-art-et-la-sante-voit-le-jour-a-l-udem/ 

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

https://catalogue.dfc.umontreal.ca/Web/MyCatalog/ViewP?id=btv46z/9thqd08dorY29DQ==&pid=FKnmmDiZxlKSRB4YyTlaHg== 

SEE PHOTO ALBUM 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=bernard.bujold&set=a.10166710241090541

THE END OF AUGUST 2022

THE END OF AUGUST 2022- 

By Bernard Bujold - 

You could say that with the end of August 2022, it's also the end of summer...

I'm going to take advantage of these last days of August to read one last summer book and it's going to be the book that Jared Kushner, the husband of Ivanka Trump, Donald's daughter, just published. I've already read a few chapters and it's exciting! Jared said in an interview that his father-in-law Donald Trump doesn't read many books, but he started his and he reportedly told him this book is worth reading! 

Have a great end of summer 2022... 

SEE THE BOOK REVIEW 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/25/trump-reading-kushner-book-breaking-history 

SEE PICTURES SUMMER 2022 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=bernard.bujold&set=a.10166540845540541

QUEBEC ELECTIONS 2022 - THE POLLS

QUEBEC ELECTIONS 2022 - THE POLLS- 

By Bernard Bujold - 

Incumbent Quebec Premier François Legault has the most followers on all social media; from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram to TikTok... 

SEE SOCIAL MEDIA 

https://www.lapresse.ca/elections-quebec/2022-08-27/les-chefs-sur-les-reseaux-sociaux/passer-du-j-aime-au-vote.php 

SEE SURVEYS 

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2022/08/27/sondage-les-intentions-de-vote-au-lancement-de-la-campagne

STORY OF MIRACLES FOR THE LAST WEEKEND OF AUGUST 2022-

STORY OF MIRACLES FOR THE LAST WEEKEND OF AUGUST 2022-

By Bernard Bujold - 

My mother did not attend the church in her village in Gaspésie, but she seriously believed in miracles through prayer and there was a specific saint depending on the kind of miracle requested. Her favorite was Saint-Antoine de Padoue, for lost objects... 

My father attended mass regularly, but he did not believe in miracles. 

I am like my mother and if I don't go to church, I start to believe in miracles... 

To date, I have a few miracles on my record, including two with Saint Anthony of Padua: a pair of gloves found last winter; and my sunglasses that were lost earlier this week and found yesterday!

My favorite saint, however, is Brother André, except that I don't bother him for trifles. I save him for special occasions! 

Do miracles really exist, or is it a matter of chance? God only knows... 

Have a great end of summer 2022! 

SEE PICTURES SUMMER 2022 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=bernard.bujold&set=a.10166540845540541

RENE LEVESQUE'S CENTENNIAL

 

RENÉ LÉVESQUE'S CENTENNIAL - AUGUST 24, 2022 

By Bernard Bujold - 

Today, August 24, 2022, is the 100th birthday of René Lévesque who grew up in New Carlisle, a neighbor of my own native village in Gaspésie. 

I knew Lévesque well when I was a journalist at the Quebec National Assembly in 1977.  

René was a small man, but he took up the whole room when he was in your presence. He went down in history as one of the most influential politicians in the history of Quebec, but he never considered himself a politician. He was a journalist in the depths of his soul and he would have liked to make a career in the United States. 

Would he have been an admirer of Donald Trump? Perhaps, because like Donald he was a rebel who opposed the elite. In this respect, he had the ideas of a Donald Trump... 

René Lévesque was not a happy man in his life and he often escaped into alcohol. But he was a man of superior intelligence and he was happy in front of an audience. 

One thing is clear in my mind: the life of a politician is the least happy of all lives! In my opinion, happiness comes from freedom and it does not exist in politics! I have known many politicians and many rich financiers and the only freedom I have seen is the freedom of financial power. But finance is an extremely boring environment while politics is an exciting illusion. This is what makes happiness unattainable, because when you become rich, you want to be in politics for the sake of action, whereas it is an illusion and you lose all your freedom. 

Several very rich businessmen have all confided in me that they had been happy during the time they were developing their companies, but once they were at the head of their empires, they found life boring... They wanted to dream again! 

In the end, happiness is in the hope and the dream, including the dream of politics... 

Happy Quebec election campaign to all candidates and happy centennial to René Lévesque! https://www.lestudio1.com/ReneLevesque.html 

MARCEL BRISEBOIS (1933-2022)

MARCEL BRISEBOIS (1933-2022) - 

By Bernard Bujold -

Marcel Brisebois, professor, television host and museum director, passed away on August 18 at the age of 83. 

I did not know him intimately but I met him on several occasions and I was always impressed by the meetings. 

The first time was in 1991 when I had approached him to be the president of the René Lévesque Foundation that I was working to set up. He had refused but had suggested names... 

Later, I would see him often when he was the boss at the Musée d'art contemporain of the chief curator Manon Blanchette, the spouse of my then boss Pierre Péladeau. 

Finally, one day I ran into Marcel in an apartment building at the corner of La Montagne and Sherbrooke streets to find that he was the next door neighbor of my then lover... 

I was shocked in June 2015 when he was accused of sexual assaults that allegedly occurred between the 1960s and 1980s... 

Marcel Brisebois was a man of stature and society; a pillar of the Quebec cultural milieu. Every time I pass by the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal, I think of him... 

Rest in peace dear Marcel! 

https://www.jalarin.com/obituaries/m-marcel-brisebois-2/

THE MASSACRE OF FRANÇOIS LEGAULT

 

THE MASSACRE OF FRANÇOIS LEGAULT - 

By Bernard Bujold - 

François Legault could be called a "GREAT WARRIOR CHIEF". 

Don't be fooled, the outgoing Premier of Quebec is usually all smiles and nice, but he is a tough and solid warrior leader who always plays hard and smart to win! 

Will Legault sweep the election on Monday, October 3 and make a "killing" of his opponents as the polls predict? 

In reality, an election campaign is won by mobilizing the vote. Popularity does not make a candidate win if there are no solid structures on the ground. This is, in my opinion, the handicap of the aspirants. Thus, again in my opinion, it is not so much Legault who will win the election, but his opponents who will lose it because of their lack of experience in running a winning election campaign, and who therefore have a weaker organization. 

It is also said that Quebecers never vote for a candidate, but against a candidate. They vote by elimination to arrive at their final choice. Because there are 5 parties in the race, the division of the vote will favour the leader of each riding and make it very difficult for one of the four secondary candidates to win. 

Finally, it should be noted that there is no generalized anti-Legault movement as there was against the outgoing and defeated premiers in previous elections! 

Personally, I can't wait to cast my ballot, my ultimate right as a Quebec citizen! 

To be continued! 

SEE PHOTOS 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=bernard.bujold&set=a.10166382807760541

THE DEPARTURES -

THE DEPARTURES- 

By Bernard Bujold -

A good friend of mine expressed to me on Saturday (August 20th) his sadness to see his favorite Montreal pastry shop (Patrice Pâtissier) close its doors for good... 

I was not very supportive, as I easily forget objects or places that pass in my life, although I am always a little sad that people I know and love leave us. 

In the last few months, several of my friends have left and an elderly couple in my neighborhood, are currently at the end of their lives like a plant that is hanging on, but has passed its maturity! 

In the end, I am more of a resilient person. I have experienced so many departures and ends that I have developed a kind of "detachment". That's what keeps me alive, detachment! 

Life is an illusion and you have to live this illusion when it passes and never get attached to it as if you were its owner or that this illusion was an eternal reality. In life, everything is only a loan, a temporary passage! 

Soon, the season of summer 2022 will leave us... So is life! https://www.lapresse.ca/gourmand/restaurants/2022-03-01/patrice-patissier-ferme-ses-portes.php#

THE PROVIGO OF NUNS ISLAND

THE PROVIGO OF NUNS ISLAND... 

By Bernard Bujold - 

The Nuns' Island PROVIGO store may be less well known in the social media than its neighbor, the newcomer DOLLARAMA, but the least we can say is that the manager, Dany Lescelleur, spares no effort to satisfy his customers. 

Indeed, PROVIGO Nuns' Island has just started since August 15th 2022, a major renovation of the store that will last about 16 weeks, until the beginning of December, just in time for Christmas! I can't wait to see the result! 

To be continued... 

https://www.facebook.com/ProvigoIDS