First, a couple of facts!
Born in Barcelona. Lived in Morocco and Provence.
Studied Art History at the Louvre. And Curatorship at Ecole Nationale du Patrimoine de Paris.
Travelled extensively, with family and alone.
But the fire inside Nathalie Bondil, no school can teach.
It is a burst of expansive warmth, which envelops everyone she meets.
It is a burst of partnership, which includes everyone she meets.
And when the person whom she is combines her warmth and her capacity for partnership with her passion for life and humanity, a freedom within structure, and a vision which has no limits …EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
You simply have to witness a "Four-Handed Workshop" in progress to see and understand the transformative power of brilliant simplicity within a very well defined structure: The humanity that bursts to the surface.
Birthday parties at the MMFA.Photo Olivier Chwaiki.
Imagine, 2-5 year olds sitting very close to their parents in a strange class, in a strange building with two strange women sitting in the center, Each woman with a puppet in their hand.
The children start out very tentatively, not knowing what to expect.
Then the 2 guides, facing the group, start their delightful presentation.
And with the aid of the puppets they demonstrate each of the steps involved in the creation of a masterpiece a la Calder!
"Look at me, and watch me pick a piece of paper in that pile near the door.!
Look at me, smearing the colours on my paper with my hands!
Look at me going to the sink to wash my hands!
Look at me picking some of the cut outs and I glue the pieces anywhere I want on my painting.
And voila!
You are going to see what a beautiful painting you have created!!!"
2-year olds completely transformed. The same for the 5-year olds
Completely full of wonderful confidence.
Completely reveling in their independence from an adult's supervision.
So full of pride at what they have been able to accomplish!
Self-worth, self esteem, self-pride and a masterpiece!
Individuals with their humanity in full bloom.
Is this the underlying principle governing the dynamics of everything that happens connected to the Museum?
A strong frame well defined, in which people have the freedom to roam, to discover and innovate and to feel proud of their personal contributions?
ls this the secret of Nathalie's Bondil's incredible success in taking the world by storm?
Brains alone could never do it. Great Vision alone couldn't do it.
The speech of the Director of the Museum
ww.mbam.qc.ca/en/from-the-director/
THE MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, AN INSPIRING VEHICLE FOR SOCIAL PROGRESS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE
With 450 ongoing partnerships with associations, clinics, hospitals, research centers and universities, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has established itself as an internationally recognized model through the diversity and scope of its activities in Montreal’s social realm.
Art does us good – on both a societal and an individual level. Culture is the focus of 100% of our discussions on issues associated with integrating the multicultural model into our new intercultural era, it but represents a mere 1% of our budgets, and this is true not only in Quebec.
We believe, however, that culture has a supra-ministerial mandate. While support for artists and for the history of art remains central to the museum’s mission, it is not enough.
We must rethink art as a force of social cohesion and individual well-being. Whereas the twentieth century promoted our primal side, with our newly liberated bodies – in both the arts and psychology – I share philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky’s belief that the twenty-first century will value our experiential being in our virtual world.
OUR VISION AIMS TO REDEFINE THE ROLE OF A FINE ARTS MUSEUM IN SOCIETY. HOW?
By rethinking the relevance of the institution, which means asking whether a museum should question, discuss and engage in the important issues of its day. Rather than being merely a strongbox holding a capital of artworks – assets in the informal exchange market that regulates the economy of events –, the museum should pursue broader values, and not only in the context of specific exhibitions.
By rethinking the collections, which means being willing to throw the doors of our fine arts museum wide open to other disciplines, contemplating the works in all their complexity by considering all possible perspectives.
Looking beyond their place in art history, the works should be freed from the confines of heterogeneous disciplinary scripts in order to touch on all fields of knowledge, spark discussion and bring latent ideas into consciousness.
By rethinking the nature of our public, which means reconsidering our visitors as living, experiential beings. The human need for “beauty,” or at least for aesthetic sentiment, is physiological, and not just philosophical or cultural. As neuroscience has demonstrated, art is a “soft power” that stimulates our empathic circuit.
By rethinking context, which means establishing co-creative partnerships with experts in other fields – schools, organizations, associations, institutes and universities – not to coalesce but to evolve together. Making ourselves available to the agents of social change requires humility, generosity, flexibility, responsiveness, open-mindedness and ingenuity. Fostering and nourishing interdisciplinary will henceforth be an integral part of a “creative” museum’s DNA.
A visit to the exciting site of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts www,mbam.qc.ca is an adventure in itself!
