In Origines, Toronto-based artist Nadine Valcin compiles and reassembles footage from À Tout Prendre (Take It All, 1963), an autobiographical film by Quebec director Claude Jutra. The film explores the quest for identity of a Black francophone woman, played by Jutra's former partner, Montreal-born actress and model Johanne Harrelle, in Canada.

Origines is a reflection on Blackness and belonging as specifically experienced by Harrelle, but also in the broader context of the implicit whiteness of Canadian society. This dual-channel installation offers a delicate and complex portrait of a woman featured simultaneously as an entertainer, lover, and fashion model.

Presented in partnership with Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario, Sudbury.

Produced during an artist residency at Library and Archives Canada (research project for Archive/Counter Archive), with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Film footage from À tout prendre by Claude Jutra (1963) courtesy of Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montreal.