Une nouvelle oeuvre pour raconter l’histoire autrement

Pendant des décennies, le parc La Vérendrye, situé sur l’avenue Taché, au cœur de Saint-Boniface, a raconté l’histoire de l’explorateur français du même nom à travers une seule statue. La Compagnie de La Vérendrye, un groupe de reconstitution historique, a piloté un projet de conception d’une nouvelle œuvre d’art qui pourrait raconter une autre partie de l’histoire.

Explorateur de la Nouvelle-France, La Vérendrye est associé aux premières expéditions françaises dans l’Ouest canadien. Il est responsable de l’établissement de colons français au Manitoba au 18e siècle. La Compagnie de La Vérendrye a pour mission de retracer l’histoire et de conserver l’héritage de l’arrivée des premiers Français qui se sont établis dans l’ouest.

“C’était important pour nous de mettre de l’avant un projet de réconciliation avec les peuples autochtones,” déclare Michel Loiselle, président et capitaine de La Compagnie de La Vérendrye.

“On est conscient qu’on représente un symbole colonialiste, explique Michel Loiselle. La traite des fourrures à l’époque reposait sur l’esclavage des peuples autochtones. La Vérendrye prenait des prisonniers de guerre autochtones pour les vendre à Montréal. C’est cette réalité qu’on veut mettre en lumière et aussi donner une voix aux peuples autochtones.”

Daniel Lavoie, entre racines et liberté

Le 6 juin, au Centre national des Arts, à Ottawa, Daniel Lavoie a reçu le Prix de la réalisation artistique 2026, catégorie musique populaire, des Prix du Gouverneur général pour les arts du spectacle. À l’occasion de cette reconnaissance, l’auteur-compositeur-interprète franco-manitobain revient sur une carrière guidée par la liberté, son lien profond au Manitoba francophone et les défis d’une carrière en français en contexte minoritaire.

“Une agréable surprise,” c’est ainsi que Daniel Lavoie décrit cette distinction. Le Franco-Manitobain l’accueille avec plaisir, mais aussi avec un certain détachement.

“Ce n’est pas comme un Félix ou une Victoire de la Musique, des prix pour lesquels on travaille, où l’on espère la reconnaissance de nos pairs. Je ne sais pas trop qui décide qui mérite ce prix, et je suppose que c’est un peu cela qui me rend perplexe.”

Construire sa liberté

WAG-Qaumajuq exhibition offers fresh perspective on history of Indigenous representation in art

A new exhibition at WAG-Qaumajuq invites viewers to grapple with two simultaneous histories of Indigenous presence in art.

Reframed, which opened Wednesday, takes settler art of Indigenous people shaped by colonial perspectives of the time and contrasts it with modern-day contemporary work from Indigenous artists who challenge those perspectives.

Many historical paintings create a vague representation of Indigenous people by homogenizing the culture and erasing historical presence, says Marie-Anne Redhead, assistant curator of Indigenous and contemporary art.

“I wanted to highlight Indigenous perspectives on these artworks to really see these people as people,” she said.

Winnipeg teens will carry out official match balls at World Cup

For Aiden Karacsony and Cristiano Morais, the pre-match is the main event.

Odd pairing of Kraft Dinner and cheesecake a hit for city bakery

It’s the food mashup that appears, at first glance, to be a match made in culinary purgatory.

Featuring a Canadian childhood staple baked into a New York-style cheesecake, the star of the show is the ubiquitous blue-and-yellow box lurking in nearly every pantry across the country.

It’s the ultimate time-saving saviour — firmly lodged in memories as a comforting dinner rapidly whipped up and just as swiftly snarfed down between after-school activities and homework.

But now Kraft Dinner is stepping boldly — some might even say wildly — out of its lane.

Sea Bears president proof there’s no one path to pro sports success

Rhéanne Marcoux — who was recently appointed president of the Winnipeg Sea Bears— has been making waves in the city’s sports industry for over 15 years.

Love, music and the return of a weird noir

There really is no excuse for staying indoors, except for streaming these five viewing suggestions.

Hall of Famer Ogoms gunning for return to court after battling cancer

Alicia Ogoms would be (mostly) at peace if she called it a career. No one would question her decision either.

Frankly, however, she has no interest in that.

The 32-year-old wants to go out on her terms, and she’s fought like hell for the last 20 months to make sure that happens.

Ogoms has already solidified herself as one of the most accomplished female players to grace the volleyball court in Manitoba’s rich history, and now she’s on a mission to carry out something that — to her knowledge — has never been done before.

Manitoba’s removal of PST from some groceries doesn’t amount to much

Government officials predict the July 1 removal of the seven per cent PST from more grocery items will save Manitoba families about $100 per year — a few bucks here, a few there.

Mahler ruminates on life, loss and music in beautifully bleak historical fiction The Last Movement

Robert Seethaler’s The Last Movement is a work of fiction about real-life composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, who was born in Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) in 1860 and died in Vienna in 1911. Mahler’s symphonies are sometimes said to be the culmination of the Romantic movement in music and of the Austro-German symphonic form itself.

The Vienna-born Seethaler has written eight novels — his book A Whole Life, translated from German to English by Charlotte Colllins (who also translated The Last Movement) was a finalist for the 2016 Man Booker Prize. He currently lives in Berlin, where he also works as an actor.

Having independent knowledge of Mahler’s life and work is not necessary to understand The Last Movement, but would be helpful in grasping the full significance of events recounted, or in looking below the surface of the text.

The book’s title refers not to one of Mahler’s symphonies, but to the final trip he takes by steamship from New York back to Vienna, where he will shortly die at age 50. Seethaler’s slim novel is a meditation on mortality, and is also a rather bleak look at Mahler’s life.

Bombers win wild West shootout

CALGARY — Down one, with one minute left on the clock, in Week 1.

What a way to start the 2026 CFL season for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Despite the challenging predicament, the visitors didn’t stress under the bright lights at McMahon Stadium on Friday night.

Quarterback Zach Collaros fired a 27-yard pass to Ontaria (Pokey) Wilson, followed by 13 yards courtesy of running back Brady Oliveira, before kicker Sergio Castillo drilled a walk-off 38-yard field goal to give Winnipeg a memorable 30-28 victory over the Calgary Stampeders.

Shakespeare in the Ruins’ As You Like It its most pleasurable production in a while

One likes to imagine the title of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It signalled some capitulation on the part of the Bard, to keep the pastoral comedy extra light.

What’s up: Brian Goldman, Stephanie Ballard, WUFF, Pride, MayWorks book launch

Dr. Brian Goldman book launchMcNally Robinson Booksellers, 1120 Grant Ave.Tuesday, 7 p.m.Free admissionFifteen years after writing The Night Shift: Real Life in the Heart of the E.R., his account of working overnight in the emergency room (ER) at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Brian Goldman is back with a chronicle of what the medical landscape is like today.

Goldman is a bestselling author, ER doctor and host of CBC Radio’s White Coat, Black Art. His new book The Casino Shift: Stories from an ER on the Edge, published in February, goes hour by hour through the shorter overnight shifts (the “casino shifts” of the book’s title), detailing the types of situations faced by ER doctors and patients. He also sums up the advances in technology that have helped patients, as well as the increasing complexity of patient cases.

McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location will host Goldman on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the launch of The Casino Shift, where he’ll be joined in conversation by Winnipeg doctor, educator and bestselling author Dr. Jillian Horton (We Are All Perfectly Fine). The event, co-presented by the Alan Klass Health Humanities program at the UM Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, is free to attend and will also be available on McNally Robinson’s YouTube page.

— Ben Sigurdson

Iowa rookie at the centre of it all for Bombers

Tyler Elsbury sat patiently in his dorm room Saturday afternoon and tried his best to distract himself.

Winnipeg artist’s House on Fire chronicles fallout of grandmother’s MK Ultra experience

In the late 1950s, Velma Orlikow sought treatment for postpartum depression at the Allen Memorial Institute at McGill University in Montreal.

Later, it would be discovered that she was unknowingly enrolled in the secret CIA research program now known as MK Ultra, where she was the victim of brainwashing experiments at the hands of Dr. Ewen Cameron. She was injected with LSD and forced to listen to Cameron’s voice on tape for hours.

In the 1980s, Orlikow and eight other victims sued the CIA, which settled out of court.

Winnipeg visual artist Sarah Anne Johnson, Orlikow’s granddaughter, explores this difficult family history through her long-running series of work House on Fire, which is on view now at Plug In ICA.