107 FIG. 5 : connection with African art through the production of Afrique Sacrée, which was presented in two installments, the first in 2006 and the second in 2008 (fig. 13). Combining the institution’s historical holdings with those of Guy Laliberté, the president and director of Cirque du Soleil and Canada’s first major Francophone African art collector, the exhibition took an encyclopedic approach realized under the supervision of Nathalie Bondil, the MBAM’s director. The philosophy of presentation that this show embodied is specific to the United States and Canada, following a perspective advocated by James Cuno, former director of the Art Institute of Chicago, who, in the age of globalization, felt it imperative to strive to make exhibitions as inclusive as possible. Canada appears to have seriously committed itself to the acquisition, presentation, and validation of the artistic production of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. The success of the most recent exhibition on the subject in 2012, Art du Nigeria dans les Collections Privées Françaises at the Musée de la Civilisation in Quebec, once again attests to this, but challenges remain to be overcome to ensure that the commitment will endure for the long term. The very size of the country is foremost among these. The immense nation ranges from the Pacific region, which includes the Anglophone West Coast and cities such as Vancouver; to the multicultural environment in Ontario, especially remarkable in Toronto; to the province of Quebec, the only link between Francophone culture and North America. The diversity of environments and peoples does not lead easily to a singular accord of interest. Other constraints on a national level add to those that are innate to the country. These include economic constraints, and budget cuts are felt across the land from one ocean to the other. Added to this are demands for restitution on the part of certain African nations, restrictions on the import of certain materials (most notably ivory), and new legislation regulating shipping and transport. Despite these challenges, existing interest in and the presence of a remarkable amount of fine African art in Canada should be more than sufficient to serve as the impetus for the pursuit of a worthy project: that of organizing a major exhibition of masterpieces from Canadian collections that could be seen all over the world. Such an event would mark a milestone in the history of Canadian museums, potentially enlarging their horizons to the point where greater cohesion can be achieved and their collections further enriched. Only the future will demonstrate whether or not this challenge can be met.
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