Caroline "Coco" Monnet is an

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

ist and filmmaker known for her work in sculpture, installation, and film.

Early life and education

Monnet is a multi-disciplinary contemporary artist and filmmaker based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. She grew up between the Celtic coasts of France in

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estua ...

and the Algonquin territory of Outaouais, Québec, and much of her work explores her Algonquin (Quebec) and French (France) dual heritage. She is the younger sister of artist and playwright Émilie Monnet. Monnet has B.A in communications and sociology from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

and has studied at the

University of Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Ap ...

in Spain. She is an alumnus of the

Berlinale Talents Berlinale Talents, formerly Berlinale Talent Campus, is the talent development programme of the Berlin International Film Festival (also called Berlinale). An annual summit and networking platform for 200 outstanding creatives from the fields of f ...

and TIFF Talent Lab 2016.

Career

Monnet began her film career making short films. In 2010, Caroline Monnet released the short film ''Warchild'', which made its debut at the Présence Authochtone Montréal First Peoples' Festival in August 2011. In 2012, Monnet released ''Gephyrophobia'', a short film about two individuals sharing the Outaouais River that was featured at Talent Tout court at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. In 2014, Monnet's short film, ''The Black Case'', was screened at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival; this piece uses inspiration from real events to demonstrate the unbearable traumas experienced in residential schools. She was nominated for a

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

for Best Short Drama for ''

Roberta ''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...

'' (2014) and Best Short Documentary for '' Tshiuetin'' (2016). In 2015, released a short film, ''Mobilize'', which uses old footage from the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

archives, set to a score by

Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...

. She won a Golden Sheaf Award at the

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

for Best Experimental Film for ''Mobilize''. Her first feature film entitled ''Bootlegger'' produced by Microclimat Films was selected for both CineMart and Berlinale Co-Production Market 2016. She was the first Canadian filmmaker selected for the 33rd session of the prestigious

Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. It was created in 1998 by Gilles Jacob. Since then it has developed complementary ...

residency in Paris (from October 2016 to February 2017). Monnet is also a founding member of the Aboriginal digital arts collective ITWÉ. In 2017, Monnet released her documentary entitled ''Emptying the Tank'' through CBC. In 2019, she was one of seven directors, alongside Kaveh Nabatian, Juan Andrés Arango, Sophie Deraspe, Karl Lemieux, Ariane Lorrain and Sophie Goyette, to direct segments of the anthology film ''The Seven Last Words (Les sept dernières paroles)''. Monnet is one of the co-founders of ''

daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in whi ...

,'' the first Indigenous artist-run centre in Québec, along with Skawennati, Hannah Claus and Nadia Myre.

Artistry and style

Monnet is primarily a self-taught artist. This allows her to approach her art with a level of freedom and naivety. Although Monnet wishes she had returned to school to pursue her arts, she strongly believes that the most valuable lessons are not taught in school. She is widely known for her sculpting, work in film and installation. Her journey with art began in hopes to reclaim her aboriginal identity in which she has suppressed throughout her life. Monnet's work in film, painting, and sculpture deals with complex ideas around Indigenous identity and bicultural living through the examination of cultural histories. She is interested in themes of identity, representation, and modernity. Monnet has made a signature for working with industrial materials, combining the vocabulary of popular and traditional visual culture with the tropes of modernist abstraction to create unique hybrid forms.

Exhibitions

Her works have been exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), as part of Rencontres Internationales (Paris/Berlin/Madrid), Axenéo7, Plug in ICA, Arsenal Montréal, Arsenal Contemporary NY, Walter Phillips Gallery, Winnipeg Art Gallery, McCord Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art (Montréal) among others.

Awards

* Canadian Screen Awards for Best Short Drama for ''

'' (2014) * Best Short Documentary for '' Tshiuetin'' (2016) * Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival for Best experimental film for ''Mobilize'' (2016)

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monnet, Caroline 1985 births Living people Artists from Montreal French Quebecers Film directors from Montreal Canadian women film directors First Nations filmmakers Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian multimedia artists Algonquin people First Nations women writers Canadian women screenwriters 21st-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century First Nations writers