The streets are gray, alas! But you can find some dreamlike magic in the city streets this winter by checking out three free exhibitions at UQAM.
Dreams, traditions, rumors, oracles… We will build ourselves a whole world before the arrival of spring—finally!—in April. We’ll start by going to see the three exhibitions opening in mid-February in the UQAM galleries.
Prophétesse, Océane Buxton
Photograph depicting Modeste Niquette at Niagara Falls, undated, photo credit unknown, approx. 4 x 6 inches.
Photo, video art, and artifacts—Océane Buxton constructs a cosmogony based on documentary work that draws its rumors from the collective imagination.
Where? At the Galerie de l’UQAM, Judith-Jasmin Pavilion, 1400 Berri Street J-R120
When? February13 to April 4, 2026 / Opening reception on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
Colonial Toxicity: French Radioactive Architecture and Landscape in the Sahara bySamia Henni
Photographs by an unknown author (a French veteran) provided by M. A. and M. G. The images illustrate the construction of the Reggane plateau, 1959-1960 © M. A. and M. G. Courtesy of the Observatoire des armements (http://www.obsarm.org).
Excerpts from the book Samia Henni Colonial Toxicity: Rehearsing French Radioactive Architecture and Landscape in the Sahara (Amsterdam: If I Can’t Dance and Framer Framed; Zurich: edition fink, 2024, 2025), pages 126–127.
Between 1960 and 1966, the French colonial regime detonated four atmospheric atomic bombs and thirteen underground nuclear bombs in the Sahara Desert in Algeria, causing radioactive fallout that affected Algeria, Africa, and the Mediterranean, as well as irreversible damage to living organisms, natural environments, and buildings. More than 65 years after the first bomb was detonated, access to the archives of the French nuclear program remains very limited and the consequences of these detonations remain largely unknown. – UQAM
Curator Samia Henni presents an investigation through a multimedia installation stretched across very thin paper placed on a delicate structure.
Where? At the UQAM Design Center, 1440 Sanguinet Street
When? February19 to April 12, 2026 / the opening is on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Paths of Light, Saodat Ismailova
Saodat Ismailova, Her Right (image from the video), 2020, video, black and white, color, sound, 15 min © Saodat Ismailova
Uzbek artist Saodat Ismailova explores the post-Soviet legacy, traditions, and myths of Central Asia through semi-dreamlike landscapes and horizons.
Where? At the Galerie de l’UQAM, Pavillon Judith-Jasmin, 1400 Rue Berri J-R120
When? February13 to April 4, 2026 / Opening reception on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
Enjoy the exhibitions!