Pierre Hébert: On "Places and Monuments"

Since 1962, Pierre Hébert has been on the cutting edge of modernity, making films that place him in the ranks of Norman McLaren and Len Lye. An independent-natured artist, he frequents the circles of animation, new dance, contemporary music and art. He is also one of the rare animation filmmakers constantly confronting reality and current affairs in his work.

The series Places and Monuments stands out amongst his recent work. In it, he favours the hybridisation of live action and animation and describes it as such: "The idea is to shoot footage of everyday life in seemingly mundane settings, all over the world, as it is happening around monuments or whatever else can be considered markers of time, history, memories kept and forgotten, and therefore establish a particular image of the present day. The goal is that the ensemble of films, installations and web sites, with their images of nothing, become a sort of world monument."

The programme will open with Hébert's work, Songs and Dances of the Inanimate World –The Subway, which he directed at the NFB in 1984 and was the source of this remarkable undertaking.