Caroline Monnet

Monnet is a multi-disciplinary contemporary artist and filmmaker based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She grew up between the Celtic coasts of France in Douarnenez and the Algonquin territory of Outaouais, Québec, and much of her work explores her Algonquin (Quebec) and French (France) dual heritage.[2][3] Caroline Monnet is primarily a self-taught artist.[4]

Monnet has B.A in communications and sociology from the University of Ottawa and has studied at the University of Granada in Spain. She is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talent Campus and TIFF Talent Lab 2016.[5]

Monnet made her film debut in 2009 with "Ikwé" which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015 Monnet released a short film named Mobilize which uses old footage from the National Film Board of Canada archives, set to a score by Tanya Tagaq;[6][7] She was nominated for a Canadian Screen Awards for Best Short Drama for Roberta (2014) and Best Short Documentary for Tshiuetin (2016).[8][9] She won a Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival for Best experimental film for Mobilize.[10] Her first feature film entitled Bootlegger produced by Microclimat Films was selected for both CineMart and Berlinale Co-Production Market 2016.[11][12] She was the first Canadian filmmaker selected for the 33rd session of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival's Cinéfondation residency in Paris (3 October 2016 – 15 February 2017).[13] Monnet is also a founding member of the Aboriginal digital arts collective ITWÉ.[14] 

Her works have been exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), as part of Rencontres Internationales (Paris/Berlin/Madrid), Axenéo7, Plug in ICA, Arsenal Montréal, Arsenal Contemporary NY, Walter Phillips Gallery, Winnipeg Art Gallery, McCord Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art (Montréal) among others.[15]

In 2014, she participated in the television show Les Contemporain which screened on ARTV and directed by Bernar Hébert. She was one of 6 emerging artists to undertake a 7 weeks residency at ARSENAL contemporary art centre combined with an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montréal. From 2014 to 2016, she kept involved with Arsenal as artist in residence. In 2016 she assisted the American artist Mark Jenkins which led to a collaboration included in Monnet's solo exhibition at Axenéo7 titled "In the Shadow of the Obvious".

Caroline Monnet, otherwise known as "Coco", is an artist from Outaouais, Quebec who specializes in visual arts, and filmmaking. She attended the University of Ottawa as well as Granada University in Spain, where she obtained a BA in Communication and Sociology. Before pursuing her passion for the multimedia arts, in 2008, Monnet worked for CBC in Winnipeg where saw was able to construct her first documentary film. She has always had a passion for multiple different types of ways of expression through art, such as writing, performing and creating sounds and images. She chose to pursue film as it allowed her to intertwine all of her passions into one.[1]

Caroline Monnet is self taught. This allows her to approach her art with a level of freedom and naivety. Although Monnet wishes she had returned to school to pursue her arts, she strongly believes that the most valuable lessons are not taught in school.[1] She is widely known for her sculpting, work in film and installation. Her journey with art began in hopes to reclaim her aboriginal identity in which she has suppressed throughout her life.[16] Monnet is recognized for her works such as Ikwe, Mobilize, Roberta, Itwe, and the list goes on. She has obtained many awards and nominations in order to congratulate her work. In 2010, Caroline Monnet released “Warchild” which made its debut at the Présence Authochtone Montréal First Peoples' Festival in August 2011.[17] In 2012, Monnet released Gephyrophobia, a short film between two individuals sharing the Outaouais River that was featured at Cannes Film Festival.[1] In 2016, she is a nominee for a Canadian Screen Award for her film “Tshiuetin” at the Toronto international film festival. In 2017, Caroline Monnet released her documentary entitled “Emptying the Tank”. Monnet demonstrates inner strength, fortitude as well as dedication to physical and spiritual health through the lens of Martial Artist, Ashley Nicholas.[18] In 2014, Caroline Monnet's “The Black Case” is displayed at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. This piece uses inspiration from real events to demonstrate the unbearable traumas experienced in residential schools.[19]

In 2019 she was one of seven directors, alongside Kaveh Nabatian, Juan Andrés Arango, Sophie Deraspe, Karl Lemieux, Ariane Lorrain and Sophie Goyette, of the anthology film The Seven Last Words (Les sept dernières paroles).[20]

Monnet is one of the co-founders of daphne, the first Indigenous artist-run centre in Québec, along with Skawennati, Hannah Claus and Nadia Myre.[21]

• Canadian Screen Awards for Best Short Drama for Roberta (2014)
• Best Short Documentary for Tshiuetin (2016)
• Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival for Best experimental film for Mobilize (2016)

Monnet's work in film, painting and sculpture deals with complex ideas around Indigenous identity and bicultural living through the examination of cultural histories.[22] She is interested in themes of identity, representation, and modernity.[4] Monnet has made a signature for working with industrial materials, combining the vocabulary of popular and traditional visual culture with the tropes of modernist abstraction to create unique hybrid forms.[4] Caroline Monnet is an artist who strives to offer her best work as well as offers advice to other female directors. She encourages other female directors to never let go of their dreams and to never let go of the fact that they are female, get in the way of reaching their goals. She suggests to always surround yourself with people who respects you and your work and to work as hard as possible and the rest will take care of itself.[23]

• Official website
• Caroline Monnet at IMDb