Le Phare by René Derouin, Hôtel La Ferme.

Originally exhibited in August 2009 as part of the International Symposium of Contemporary Art in Baie-Saint-Paul, the public artwork Le Phare is on loan from the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, and is now permanently installed on the grounds of the Hôtel La Ferme, one of the liveliest cultural spaces in this Charlevoix town. The work was inaugurated on its new site, near the arrivals area of the new tourist train, in September 2013.

Created for the 2009 Symposium, Le Phare pays tribute to the river and to the Cirque du Soleil which was then celebrating its 25th anniversary. This 10-metre-high metal structure (aluminum, wood and ceramic) holds several hundred ceramic figures on 25 rings stacked one on top of the other, each layer essentially representing a year in the Cirque’s evolving history. It also alludes to the lighthouses that have guided navigators on the St. Lawrence over the past centuries.