© CALQ
If you were to boil down André Laliberté’s sweeping career, you could say – as he does himself – that he has been playing with dolls for over 50 years. But the children and the children’s children who have seen his work would point instead to its tremendous visual poetry. The hundreds of artisans with whom he has collaborated would attest to his visionary character. And the puppets themselves would emerge from their involuntary silence to thank him for having put a soul in their cloth bodies and so much emotion in their glass eyes.
At the head of the Théâtre de l’Oeil from its foundation until 2020, André Laliberté simultaneously wore the hats of playwright, director, and puppeteer. He directed 28 creations, giving some 5,000 performances on four continents. Countless hearts were turned inside out, minds blown, and eyes filled with wonder by works like Le Porteur/The Star Keeper, Un autre monde/A New World, and Un secret de Polichinelle. But André Laliberté’s work cannot be reduced to numbers. It is the work of intimacy, refinement, and human kindness. It is work that conveys his passion and love of this millennial art, with the infinite possibilities André Laliberté has explored in all their richness, combining the form with other disciplines.
Cofounder of La Maison Théâtre, André Laliberté has enabled puppetry and Québec youth theatre to acquire an astonishing reputation on the international stage, showing that great things can be accomplished with the heart of a child who plays with dolls.
© Arianne Bergeron / Alexandre Claude photographe
About the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec
The Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec is a distinction bestowed by CALQ honouring those individuals who have played a prominent role in Québec's artistic development.
The CALQ would like to thanks its partners, the Caisse de la Culture and the newspaper Le Devoir.
List of recipients This link will open in a new window
© CALQ