Panel ⏤ When Art Inhabits Spaces

A specialist in the history and material cultures of colonial Americas and early modern Europe, Philippe Halbert is the new Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He has been working in the museum, heritage, and academic sectors for nearly a decade. He has previously held various roles at institutions and historical sites, including the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (Hartford), the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven), Historic Deerfield (Massachusetts), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Winterthur Museum (Delaware). He holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Art History from Yale University, as well as a Master’s degree in American Material Culture Studies from the University of Delaware.

Mylène Lachance-Paquin is an independent curator, writer, and consultant whose curatorial practice is grounded in a critical perspective addressing societal reflections and collective issues. She is the founder and director of OGIVE art, an art concierge agency dedicated to democratizing contemporary art by integrating it into events, buildings, and enterprises, while also developing cultural and artistic mediation initiatives. She is also the founder and director of the POST-INVISIBLES Biennale; A Look at the Place of Women in the Field of Visual Arts*, a platform that examines the underrepresentation of women in the historical narrative of art through a program of exhibitions, talks, and mediation activities.Mylène Lachance-Paquin est également la fondatrice et directrice de la Biennale POST-INVISIBLES; regard sur la place des femmes* dans le champ des arts visuels qui aborde, à travers une programmation d’expositions, de conférences et d’activités de médiation, la sous-représentation des femmes dans l’historicité de l’histoire de l’art.

Koen De Winter is an industrial designer, ceramicist, and professor who has been based in Québec since 1979. He worked for Volvo and Mepal before settling in Canada, where he served as Vice President of Design at Danesco. His body of work includes more than 400 diverse products, several of which are part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Founder of Hippodesign Studio and Atelier Orange, he has also taught at UQAM and received numerous awards, including the prestigious Henry van de Velde Award and the Grand Prix du Design du Québec. In 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Université Laval.

Currently pursuing a PhD in design history, Vanessa Sicotte is uniquely positioned to examine the history of Québec design through a feminist lens, focusing on women as producers of space. Interiors have always been at the core of her professional practice, as she has dedicated her career to understanding, discussing, and sharing them. Her work builds on 15 years of experience as an interior designer in Montreal. During that time, she authored two books on Québec interiors (Éditions Cardinal, 2015 and 2018), built an extensive photographic archive, wrote hundreds of articles for interior design magazines, and hosted two television shows. Through her blog, podcast, and social media platforms under the name Damask & Dentelle, she continues to share her passion for all things design.