The Ordre des arts et des lettres: 10 Compagnes and Compagnons honoured

MONTRÉAL, June 10, 2025 /CNW/ - On Monday evening, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) inducted ten new luminaries to the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Daniel Bélanger, Lorraine Desmarais, Jacques Fournier, D. Kimm, Diane Landry, Michel Levasseur, Manuel Mathieu, Mireille Métellus, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui and Victor Quijada received the title of Compagnes and Compagnons of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, an honour presented by Sophie Prégent, chair of the CALQ's board of directors and the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Moving video tributes were presented for each of the recipients, showcasing their outstanding contribution to Québec's cultural landscape.

For the tributes from the ceremony, click here.

To download photos from the evening, click here.

With Sophie Fouron's warm, sensitive hosting style, the ceremony was held in the Espace Orange at the Wilder Building and brought together members of the arts community, dignitaries and recipients' friends and family.

"The Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec is a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on luminaries whose talent, passion and community enrich our culture every day. Welcome to the Compagnes and Compagnons who are joining this distinguished family. This well-deserved honour is a wonderful way to celebrate their incredible careers." - Sophie Prégent

"Celebrating people of exception, yesterday's ceremony was a wonderful reminder of how much arts and literature are a driver of meaning, dialogue and transformation in a constantly evolving society. The know-how and vision of the Compagnes and Compagnons honoured last night is further testimony to the rich culture that emerges when we support and value the people who shape it. On behalf of the CALQ, I would like to express my admiration and recognition for their invaluable contribution to our culture." - Véronique Fontaine, President and Executive Director, CALQ

The Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec

The Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec pays tribute to artists, writers, teachers, cultural managers and patrons whose outstanding achievements contribute to Québec's artistic and literary development. This honour is symbolized by an original insignia, designed by the jewellery artist Christine Dwane. Since it was instituted, 177 luminaries who have left their mark on Québec arts and literature have been welcomed into this incredible family.

See the full list of recipients

Conseil de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec 

Compagnes and Compagnons are recommended by the Conseil de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, a jury that evaluates nominations received in response to an annual call for candidates. The recommendations are ratified by the CALQ's board of directors.

This year, the jury was made up of Anne-Marie Blouin, Michel Dallaire, Karla Etienne, Monique Giroux, Pierre Thibaultand Jocelyn Robert.

About the Caisse Desjardins de la Culture, official partner of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec

An ally to artists, a driver of the cultural economy, and a springboard for organizations and entrepreneurs, the Caisse Desjardins de la Culture is a financial cooperative with deep roots in the community. For the past 30 years, it has been supporting artists, artisans and self-employed workers in their personal and professional projects, offering cultural businesses and organizations financial services adapted to their needs and participating in the socioeconomic development of the cultural milieu by supporting structuring efforts and projects.

The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec

The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) has been investing in the imagination and celebrating the success of those who create memorable works, shape Québec's cultural identity and make it shine. With a view to equitable, sustainable artistic development, the CALQ supports creation, experimentation, and production in the arts and literature in all regions of Québec and promotes dissemination in Québec, Canada and abroad. 

The CALQ would like to thank the Caisse Desjardins de la Culture, main partner, and Le Devoir, media partner, for their invaluable cooperation.

Appendix

Biographies of luminaries 2025

Daniel Bélanger

Born in Montréal, singer-songwriter Daniel Bélanger made his presence felt from his very first album, Les insomniaques s'amusent, in 1992. Since then, he has charmed critics and audiences with his songs that combine humour, tenderness and melancholy, set to innovative arrangements that blur genres. He has eagerly ventured into film, literature and theatre. His eclectic work has garnered him thirty-two Félix Awards, earning him a place among the leading lights of francophone song.

Lorraine Desmarais

Pianist, composer, arranger, conductor and educator, Lorraine Desmarais is a pioneer of jazz in Québec. Throughout her career, which stretches over five decades and four continents, she has earned renown for her versatility and creativity, moving from trios to big bands, from film scores to classical music. Thirteen albums and countless awards and honours are testimony to her enormous contribution to Québec's musical heritage.

Jacques Fournier

Bookbinder Jacques Fournier is the founding director of Éditions Roselin, which specializes in the design and production of artists' books that are innovative in form and substance. For the past 30 years, working with artists from the visual arts, literature and arts and crafts, he has created some 40 works that are part of private and institutional collections. Exhibited at home and abroad, his work has earned him two Grand prix des métiers d'art du Québec and the title of Membre artisan professionnel émérite, awarded by the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec.

D. Kimm 

Poet, performer, producer and director, D. Kimm is an interdisciplinary artist based in Montréal where she heads up Les Filles électriques and the Festival Phénomena. Known for her commitment to the performing arts, D. Kimm is also recognized for her ability to cross disciplinary boundaries by fostering exchange, hybridization and the inclusion of all artists, embracing their difference.

Diane Landry

Visual artist Diane Landry's practice is based in Québec City. During a career that has spanned 40 years and included close to 100 individual exhibitions, she has elicited wonder on the international stage. Her work has circulated at major events on four continents and is part of prominent public and private collections. She has received many honours, including a prestigious grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in New York.

Michel Levasseur

A visionary broadcaster, intrepid producer and dynamic manager, Michel Levasseur spent 40 years at the helm of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV), a noted hub for experimental music and improvisation. As head of FIMAV and Disques VICTO, he has introduced incredible musicians to audiences and propelled many homegrown artists' careers onto the international stage. His contribution to the promotion of avant-garde arts has been recognized with two Opus Awards and many other honours.

Manuel Mathieu

Born in Port-au-Prince, Manuel Mathieu uses painting, sculpture, video, poetry and installation to explore the connections between the past and the present, the personal and the political. Celebrated on the international contemporary art scene, his work is exhibited around the world and is part of prestigious public and private collections. He initiated a fund for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts dedicated to the acquisition of artworks from emerging Québec and Canadian artists who have been unrepresented or underrepresented in the museum's collection. In 2023, his film Pendulum won the Best Short Film award at the International Festival of Films on Art, and one year later, in 2024, he was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his contribution to Canada.

Mireille Métellus

Actor, teacher, remedial educator and psychosocial professional, Mireille Métellus has embraced teaching, television, film, theatre and dance, all with equal passion. With the wide range of roles she has played, she has drawn new audiences to performance venues and foregrounded human experiences that often remain out of view, prompting us to take another look at society. Her inexhaustible commitment to the arts and the community makes her one of Québec's most recognized and appreciated artists of African descent.

Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui

Writer, performer, historian, anthropologist and visual arts curator based in Wendake, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui is a member of the Wolf clan of the Wendat nation. In 2015, he co-founded the organization Kwahiatonhk! to develop, promote and disseminate Indigenous literature, particularly through the Salon du livre des Premières Nations, which he heads up. He uses his highly diverse body of work to share the wisdom and values of his ancestors, to express his individuality, and to offer his people and the world a contemporary view of Indigenous realities.

Victor Quijada

Dancer, choreographer, director, mentor and educator, Victor Quijada went from hip-hop clubs in Los Angeles to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, before founding his company, RUBBERBAND, in 2002. Some 60 pieces bear the imprint of his inventive choreographic language, where the codes of breakdance, ballet and contemporary dance intersect and enrich each other. Since then, he has developed a method that is taught globally and has won 14 awards for bringing new energy to choreography in Québec.

SOURCE Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec