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A large portrait in tribute to former Quebec premier and historic figure René Lévesque has come to life on a building on Crémazie Boulevard East!
The mural, created in partnership with the Fondation René Lévesque and the Ministère de la Langue française, underscores Mr. Lévesque’s immense contribution to the survival and protection of the French language in Quebec, in its institutions, culture and politics. It is part of the Year of Lévesque, which has given rise to commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the premier’s birth throughout 2022 and 2023. In this way, the mural is a form of tribute to Mr. Lévesque, a new way of anchoring his memory in the city.
Kevin Ledo, a great lover of the French language and a skilled portraitist, was selected to create the large-scale project. His model is accompanied by a quotation from one of his speeches, “Que s’affirmer un peuple libre qui puisse exprimer en français, avec son accent à lui, toutes les dimensions du monde d’aujourd’hui” (“May a free people assert itself who can express in French, with its own accent, all the dimensions of today’s world”). It testifies to the importance Mr. Lévesque attached to the language of Molière, proud, creative, independent and assertive.
The project was made possible thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI).
