La Guilde is proud to present, in partnership with the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec and the Ville de Montréal, an exhibition featuring the finalists of the 25th edition of the Prix François-Houdé and the exhibition In the Fruitful land of Your Womb by glass artist Montserrat Duran Muntadas, last year’s recipient and award winner. From December 3, 2020 to February 21, 2021, come and discover the works of the ten 2019 finalists: Gayané Avetisyan, jeweller; Loïc Bard, woodworker; David Frigon-Lavoie, glass artist; Pauline Guidera, ceramist; HotelMotel, footwear designers; Julie Bénédicte Lambert, textile artist; Annie Legault, textile artist; Delphine Platten, bookbinder; Cynthia Sansregret, textile artist; Mélina Schoenborn, ceramist.


The recipient of the Prix François-Houdé 2020 will be named on Thursday, November 26, during the award ceremony, which will be taking place online. This prize, awarded the Ville de Montréal, includes a grant and is given to a professional artist at the beginning of his or her career. It promotes the prominence of new creations on the Montreal crafts scene and helps young artist-creators share their artwork with the world. We invite you to discover a total of 36 works of art that showcase the best local artists.

In the Fruitful Land of your Womb, the exhibition of last year’s 2019 recipient Montserrat Duran Muntadas

Established in Montreal since 2012, Montserrat Duran Muntadas is an emerging artist of Catalan origin who graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona in 2007 and from the Centro Nacional del Vidrio de la Real Fabrica de Cristales de La Granja, in Spain. She is known for her unique artistic practice combining glass and textile. Working with blown or flame-worked glass, her work includes contemporary jewelry, sculptures and installations. She participated in several national and international solo and group exhibitions and has been a finalist and winner of numerous awards such as the 2017 Glass Prize and the Prix Francois-Houdé in 2019.

In the Fruitful Land of Your Womb presents the new series of hanging artworks, Leio My Oma About the Prix François-Houdé

The Prix François-Houdé recognizes the remarkable craftsmanship of their creations and their original contributions to the practice of a craft related to the transformation of wood, leather, textiles, metals, glass, ceramics, paper, or any other material. It also recognizes their mastery of exploratory techniques associated with their specific discipline. Remember that this award is in honour of François Houdé, an internationally renowned glass sculptor and the co-founder of the Espace VERRE (formerly Centre des métiers du verre du Québec).

About La Guilde

La Guilde, a historical gallery and museum institution of Canadian art, has been preserving, promoting and encouraging fine crafts for more than one hundred years. Specializing in Inuit and First Nations art, La Guilde is a non-profit organization that holds a permanent collection, one of the most influential in Canada, a historically and culturally rich archives department, an educational program with a broad outreach, and a gallery which draws together works by renowned and emerging artists. Situated in downtown Montreal, La Guilde’s gallery offers all of its customers’ high-quality contemporary art.

Image : Assemblage of works from the Prix François-Houdé, 2020. © La Guilde