Howdy!
I ran into Leah Sandals' analysis of Papier11 after I wrote my piece. But I can always add more. First off, congrats to Ms. Sandals, hers is the first I've seen of anyone asking questions about Papier11.
Secondly, while it's nice to think that Papier11 was 'curated,' I think I might have a slightly used bridge to sell whomever gave her that quote. Given some of the galleries that were missing, I can only presume that they took whomever gave them the cash.
Third, if her figures are correct, then AGAC made more than $100,000 from fees received from dealers and probably another $30,000 from tickets to the VIP event. I can't imagine a tent and a catalogue (and while we're at it, a coat check) costing $130,000 for a weekend. So yes, while culture in Quebec is subsidized more than it is in Ontario Papier11 wasn't completely funded by the Quebec (or the Montreal) government. And a quick check of the logos at the back of the catalogue shows that in fact, The Quartier des Spectacles, Tourism Montreal, The Montreal Arts Council, and three parts of the Quebec government were among 33 organizations that helped. I would guess that total government funding was in the low five figures.
Actually, $28,500 from the Quebec government as Mme Christine St-Pierre announced here. And I also find it particularly intriguing that they decided to give as much money to the administrators and organizers as they decided to give to the artists. Do you really and truly believe that the people who run art galleries are as important and the artists?
Next, Galerie Graff, who participated in Papier11 is in fact an artist run centre. And Headbones Gallery made it all the way from BC.
But it definitely shows that Ms. Sandals consumes her culture from a completely different perspective than I do.
