Appointment to the programming team of the International Festival of Films on Art (Le FIFA)

Photo Credit : Jean-Sebastien Veilleux

EUNICE BÉLIDOR

Programmer and Curator of the
AVANT-GARDE Section

The International Festival of Films on Art (Le FIFA) is pleased to announce the appointment of eunice bélidor to its programming team. Her arrival marks an important step in ushering Le FIFA into a phase of renewal.

A curator, author, and researcher, eunice is recognized for her visionary and inclusive approach to curating. Her work explores marginalized narratives, decolonial aesthetics, and experimental forms of artistic language.

“The arrival of eunice bélidor to our team marks a new stage in the dialogue between art cinema and contemporary curatorial practices. Her perspective, both critical and deeply human, will help broaden our understanding of what film on art and art cinema can be today” — Philippe U. del Drago, Executive and Artistic Director of Le FIFA.

This highly enriching appointment to the festival’s programming team highlights not only her curatorial expertise but also a genuine admiration for her thoughtful practice, which places critical creativity at its core and demonstrates a strong ethical commitment.

“Collaborating as a curator and programmer at Le FIFA is an exceptional opportunity to showcase the cinematographic practices and filmic experiments of visual artists. I am thrilled to work within an intelligent and caring team that expands perspectives on art and film” — eunice bélidor.

It is in this spirit that the AVANT-GARDE program was born: a movement at the forefront of new artistic developments that has shaped contemporary and current practices. Through this lens, we will present innovative and experimental films that cross disciplinary boundaries and propose artistic and cinematographic practices that push limits and challenge established conventions. The AVANT-GARDE section will highlight artists who do not identify as filmmakers but explore art and their practice through film, cinema, and video.

With this appointment, Le FIFA reaffirms its mission: to foster a dialogue between art and cinema in all its forms, and to celebrate the creators who invent new visual languages.

A VISIONARY WITH MANY FACETS

Born in Montreal, eunice first studied art history at Concordia University and then continued her studies at York University (Toronto), where she completed master’s degrees in both art history and visual culture and curatorial studies.

Professional background & notable achievements

From 2014 to 2019, she was programming coordinator at the articule artist-run centre (Montreal), where she developed a strong sensitivity to the community, interdisciplinary, and social engagement dimensions of art.
In 2019, she became director of Concordia University’s FOFA Gallery. Thanks to her hard work, the gallery will highlight increasingly diverse voices and experiment with non-traditional forms of mediation.
In 2021, she was appointed curator of contemporary Quebec and Canadian art (1945 to present) at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), holding the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair. She is the first Black woman to hold this position at the museum.

Awards and recognition

In 2018, she received the Emerging Curator Award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation (TD Bank Group).
She is regularly sought after for juries, commissions, and committees (nationally and internationally) and is recognized as an influential voice in debates on equity, representation, and new curatorial practices.

Themes and curatorial approach

Her practice is marked by a constant questioning, an exploration of issues of marginalization, care, feminism, and forms of expression that are not widely visible in traditional circles.
She places great importance on letter writing, not only as a means of communication, but also as a tool for research, critical reflection, and curative/self-theoretical creation.
Among her major exhibitions: Over My Black Body (Galerie de l’UQAM / Spike Berlin, 2019), a project co-designed with Anaïs Castro around the black body, its codifications, and institutional violence.
She also orchestrated the series Isolate in Style: epistolary curatorship at FOFA Gallery (2021) in a pandemic context, drawing on artists’ letters to highlight artists’ practices without having to show objects or present works.
More recently, she curated the exhibition The Traces That Remain (2024) at the MAI, bringing together artists who reflect on what remains after the fact/effect.