Concordia Journal Home > Archives > September 25, 2008 issue >

Communicating Griffintown’s history with stage, screen and sound 

By Karen Herland

• Back to Original Version

When Paul Aflalo suggested staging a video in Griffintown as part of CUTV’s makealottamovies, he had no idea he’d be recruiting volunteers and calling in favours to co-host a three-day, multi-media community celebration of the neighbourhood.

He worked with a team of five other students to produce Condemned, ostensibly the story of a janitor who returns to his beloved workplace when he learns it’s slated for demolition. Aflalo has a 15-year connection to the community where his close friend grew up.

When Griffintown began making headlines because of the Devimco development project slated for the area, Aflalo became frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of understanding about the community.

“I started asking people I knew where it was. Ninety per cent had no clue, they thought it was a suburb, or in the U.S. It’s smack downtown.”

Aflalo decided to organize an event “to let people learn, and really understand the community’s roots, function and history.” Since graduating last spring, he is now a school teacher. “This is really a history class, but I didn’t tell my students that.”

So, he and Liz Bono, another of the students who worked on Condemned brainstormed how to attract people to the community. The result was Remember Griffintown a three-day mash-up of the traditional and the sublime. Despite the threat of rain, the weather held out, though it would seem those in attendance were committed to being there, rain or shine. “There were nine people waiting for me at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. They said they didn’t want to miss anything.” He estimates that between 5-600 people attended at least part of the event.

From Sept. 12 to 14, anyone could drop by the site of the former gasworks of the Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company, just below the train tracks, and take in bands like The Franco Proietti Morph-tet and Kalmunity Vibe Collective or wander through the neighbourhood with a guided walking tour or a free-form scavenger hunt. The gasworks itself, which was the set for Condemned, became a temporary art gallery.

From traditional singers and story-tellers to face-painters, the event was all about community. “All of the artists did it for free.” Aflalo added that the entire event was not a money-maker. Visitors could buy food and beer on site, or bring their own.

Griffintown has a colorful and complicated past. Primarily known as the heart of Irish Montreal, the industrial community was settled by dock workers and immigrants. History lecturer Matthew Barlow projected some of the images he uncovered for his research on the area onto buildings in night-time tours over the weekend.

That same history was captured by former master's student Lisa Gasior who earned a Sony Graduate Fellowship in Communication Studies, as well as funding from the Centre for Canadian Irish Studies, for her research. She produced an aural history of the area that was available over the weekend.

The neighbourhood was also important to the city’s Black Community. Rockhead’s Paradise was a nearby nightspot that featured local jazz greats. Local groups like the Tyndale St-Georges Communty Centre also pitched in for the weekend, and food was prepared by Afrobyte.

The event was subsidized by CUTV, which furnished volunteers, equipment, time and support. Indyish.com and McAuslan Breweries also pitched in.

The event was intended as a celebration, not a protest. Aflalo wanted people to learn now, so they could ask the right questions later.