This new category of posts will introduce you to our roles within the organization and our personal favorites. First up is Laure Barrachina. With Héritage Montréal since March 2020, she replaces Amélie Renouf during her maternity leave as Director of Programs and Activities.
Héritage Montréal and you
Can you quickly introduce yourself (your studies, your background...)?
I studied history in Toulouse. Then I studied art history, museology and cultural mediation at the École du Louvre. I have been living in Montreal for the past 15 years. I have worked for various cultural organizations, at the Parc-nature de l'Île-de-la-Visitation, at the McCord Museum or for a contemporary dance festival.
What does your job involve? A typical day at Héritage Montréal ?
At Héritage Montréal, I coordinate all guided tour programs (At the Heart of the City, ArchitecTours) and activities (Échanges urbains, special tours, Heritage workshop). In the context of the pandemic, a new string has been added to my bow: the development of digital content. Concretely, I work on ideation with the team and the AOC, budgets and schedules, then coordinate logistics with the activities coordinator, Amélie Roy-Bergeron, relations with guides, training, schedules, tour feasibility, materials and conference programming. I really enjoy the two sides of my job: content and logistics.
What inspired you to join Héritage Montréal ?
I've always loved history, heritage and archives. As a child, I loved listening to family stories, visiting cities, archaeological sites and museums. When I arrived in Montreal, I did a lot of volunteer work to integrate myself into the cultural milieu. I became a volunteer guide for Héritage Montréal in 2010. The position of Director of Programs and Activities has always been a dream of mine. I'm delighted to be replacing Amélie Renouf during her maternity leave.
What is your favourite ArchitecTours tour?
I loved animating the circuits in Griffintown before its transformation. This neighborhood fascinated me. I've always found it crazy that such a central district should be abandoned and at the same time open a window on the past with the Griffintown Horse Palace, which at the time was still made of junk and junk, the New City Gas and the first experiments in industrial architecture, or the Darling Foundry, which illustrates the history of industrial architecture, from the first factory to its conversion into an artistic centre. I don't go there anymore since the construction of the new district that buried the soul of the neighbourhood.
What activities or content would you like to create at Héritage Montréal ?
I would find it interesting to work with cultural communities and present their heritage and their vision of heritage.
You and Montreal
What's the building you like the most in your neighborhood?
St. Eusebius Church. I feel a great tenderness and a certain attachment for this abandoned church. It is an important and significant visual element of the neighbourhood. It symbolizes the community life that existed around it in the past and echoes the vitality of the community today. I would really like to see a project to give this place a second wind, even though church conversion is always a complicated issue.
Which building or landscape best represents Montreal for you?
The view of Montreal from the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.
The city, the elsewhere
What is your top 3 cities to visit outside of Montreal? Do you have any particular recommendations?
- Rome for its ancient sites, churches and Italian ice cream!
- Saint-Cirq-Lapopie or the beautiful villages of southern France.
- Valparaiso in Chile for its relief, its murals and the house of Pablo Neruda.
If you had to live in another city, which one would it be and why?
In Buenos Aires. The perfect mix between Europe and Latin America.
And finally, tell us something about yourself that your colleagues atHéritage Montréal don't know ????
Two words: tango and scuba diving.
