Andrew Jackson’s Little Burgundy Exhibition at the McCord Museum, Montreal

By Audrey Arthurs

 

Little Burgundy- Evolving Montreal (February 21 – September 28th, 2025)

As part of the Evolving Montreal series, black British-Canadian photographer Andrew Jackson was commissioned by the McCord Stewart Museum to document, from his perspective, urban renewal and shifting social ideals in a Montreal neighbourhood. This project is in line with fellow photographers Robert Walker and Joannie Lafrenière, who chronicled the evolution of Griffintown and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve respectively. Jackson selected Little Burgundy, a once vibrant Anglophone black community, where activism thrived through Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the Union United Church  and where the Coloured Women’s Club was founded in 1902.

Although a museum of Canadian and Quebec social and cultural histories which boasts collections including “high” and popular art, photography, dress, material culture, and documents, the McCord Museum is not the first place that one would think of to host such an exhibition. Despite holding the only known Canadian “high” art portrait of an enslaved black person created in the period of Canadian Slavery – François Malépart de Beaucourt, Portrait of a Haitian Woman (formerly Portrait of a Negro Slave until 2011) [1786] – dozens of nineteenth-century photographs of black sitters, and blackface memorabilia and documentation, the McCord Museum has, disturbingly, largely avoided narrating the centuries-long histories of Black Canada. Therefore, Jackson’s Little Burgundy is a marked  departure from an otherwise long and problematic track-record of Eurocentric exhibitions that have centred and normalized white visions of Canada and Canadian citizenship, community, and cultural participation.

 

History of the Name Little Burgundy
Little Burgundy is a neighbourhood  in the South West borough of the city of Montreal and is within the borders of Atwater Avenue to the west, Saint-Antoine to the north, Guy Street  to the east, and the Lachine Canal to the south. The origin of the name Little-Burgundy or Petite-Bourgogne can be traced back to 1893 La cité de Sainte-Cunégonde de Montréal: notes et souvenirs in which a Canadian historian, archivist, journalist, and literary critic  Édouard-Zotique Massicotte described Little Bourgogne as a “savannah”. From 1887 onwards, there was an influx of working-class black people from the United States, Nova Scotia, and British colonies. Due to racism, black immigrants lived close to the railway where many black men were able to secure jobs as railway porters. From the 1920s on, this thriving community was recognized as the birthplace of jazz in Montreal. The popularity of Little Burgundy and jazz was facilitated by American Prohibition (1920-33), a period in which it was illegal to manufacture, transport, and sell alcohol. Montreal’s status as an easily accessible “wet” city, attracted top-tier musicians to establishments where liquor flowed freely and musical creativity was uninhibited.

The neighborhood of Little Burgundy then, was an obvious choice for a deep dive into the intertwined geographical and cultural politics of Black Montreal. Today, the neighbourhood is revered as a once-flourishing, hotbed of musical innovation and creativity which holds the esteemed moniker “Harlem of the North.”  But to its earlier residents, it is affectionately known as “Burgz” and for them, Little Burgundy evokes memories of nurturing that provided succour for an outwardly racially-denigrated population within its predominantly black community. Jackson could have taken the obvious approach to the area by focusing on familiar murals and walking tours featuring sites that pay homage to jazz legends Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones, Daisy Peterson Sweeney and a commemorative mural depicting South African anti-apartheid activist and politician Nelson Mandela which personifies resistance and hope. Instead, for two years, Jackson took photographs in the neighbourhood and selected sixty-one of memorable locales and people, mostly profiles, that were an indelible part of the Little Burgundy he witnessed; one that is now impacted by urban renewal and gentrification. Jackson then researched the McCord’s vast photography, art, material culture, and archival collections to unearth twenty noteworthy historical objects that could ignite meaningful thought through juxtapositions with his new photographic contributions. His goal is to connect the historical black presence and experience to the present, demanding appreciation of the ongoing black community’s contributions to Montreal. Jackson also includes uncompromising and honest short films that highlight the homegrown experiences of residents and provide sound advice for youth.

 

Artifacts and Portraits
Through the artifacts and photographic collection, Jackson takes us on a visual pilgrimage through the neighbourhood to reveal how collective memory fortifies enduring attachment despite the expropriation of the black community. The exhibition conveys the raw, unfiltered, and vibrant, history of Little Burgundy within a broader racist society and exposes the historical value – cultural, social, and spiritual – of the physical spaces and how these sites are preserved both emblematically and literally.

The McCord Museum’s web page that features the exhibition, reveals calm ambient lighting in deep blue rooms graced with solemn and reflective portraits, mostly profiles with averted eyes that prevented the audience from intruding on the sitters’ inner worlds. Intended or not, Jackson’s more reflective images of physical spaces such as the modern basketball court, park, and remnants of a dismantled railroad industry, memorabilia, and contemporary portraits peppered three walls.

Fig. 2:  Dr. Nicholl’s Cake Walk Group in Blackface, Montreal, Quebec, 1896, Wm. Notman & Son (1882-1919), Silver salts on glass, Gelatin dry plate process, Object NumberII-115487

The more unpalatable, racially-charged items from the Mc Cord Museum collections – the golliwog rag dolls, print of blackface entertainer, a cakewalk ensemble, and a 1772 bill of sale for enslaved black man Cesar – were contained in a glass vitrines located in the centre of the room.

Fig. 3: Deed of sale for an enslaved Black Man named Cesar (1772), C002/A2.3, McCord Stewart Museum

 

It is this collection of objects that best summarized the histories of virulent racism and Jim Crow politics which led to the racially-segregated neighbourhood of Little Burgundy.

Fig. 4: Golliwog Doll (1890-1910), unknown maker, Gift of W. G. McConnell, M2001.26.11-5, McCord Stewart Museum

 

Fig. 5: Blackface Bank, (n.d.), painted metal

 

To challenge the hideous, historical visual representation of black populations, Jackson brilliantly juxtaposes a 1901  Notman studio photograph of dignified black Canadians represented in G. Conway and Friends, Montreal Quebec, 1901 with contemporary objects such as two photo albums, one a black couple’s wedding album, the other of a young man’s funeral. He also included a cap with the name “Burgz” emblazoned on it; the black insider nickname for the neighborhood, much like T-Dot, and more recently, the 6ix for Toronto. This collection of objects refutes the racist memorabilia and imagery seen elsewhere in the exhibition.

Jackson clarifies, “These mass-produced racist caricatures…. were tools designed to enforce Black inferiority and uphold white supremacy.” Connecting past portraits to Jackson’s present photographic works opens an avenue for introspection and conversation about the centuries-long histories of racism in Montreal (and Quebec) that are still evident today in policing, education, corporations, healthcare, and municipal and provincial politics. Jackson implores his audience to inquire, “How have narratives of Black identity been shaped, challenged and redefined?  How do Black people’s representations of themselves contrast with the way society has historically tried to frame them?” These pointed questions, if answered truthfully, will centre and uplift the black community, dispelling negative attitudes and misperceptions and allowing for an acknowledgement of their pathbreaking  contributions to Montreal’s stature as a global city.

The fourth blue wall in the dimly lit room was reserved for screening Jackson’s three short films. In a poignant moment in one of the films, Jackson documents commentaries and conversations tackling issues like drugs, crime, and wealth. In one scene, a father lectures his son on fatherhood, what it means to be a man, and how outcomes are connected to one’s intentions and actions.

Andrew Jackson’s empathetic approach successfully captures the history of Burgz through rich, unfiltered storytelling from elderly residents captured as he carefully yet purposely meanders through the neighbourhood’s hallowed streets listening for quieted voices while seeing traces of a once storied community that encapsulated the power of black family, love, community, and culture. The exhibition conveys a harrowing truth, that the cultural vibrancy and power of the community was created both despite and because of the imposed racial segregation which drove the black community deep into itself and simultaneously outwards towards a larger Black Diasporic vision. Within these same spaces much pain and heartache were experienced. But that pain produced a resilience that redevelopment and gentrification can’t fully obliterate.

Although far from perfect, to many black families, Burgz was and still remains home.  The area invokes safety and belonging that fostered a close-knit community. Jackson concludes, that “When city spaces, such as Little Burgundy, are designated as Black spaces, there are profound implications for Black occupants. This is especially true in North America, where historically, in non-Black minds at least, Black spaces have not existed as places of acceptance or celebration of difference. Rather, they have been linked to notions of failure – notions that become catalysts for urban renewal, gentrification and the ensuing erasure of Black communities.”

 

Cultural Destruction and Rebranding
This area was dealt a severe blow that triggered its decline in 1959 when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened thereby eliminating the importance of the Lachine Canal. In the 1960s, approximately 14,000 residents, majority black, were displaced to gentrify the area,  prepare the island for Expo ’67, and to make way for the construction of the Ville-Marie highway. Unsurprisingly, much like other urban centres in the USA and Canada, municipal, provincial, and state government expansion of commercial and transit infrastructures often paired with the catastrophic destruction of black neighbourhoods and the cruel displacement of black citizens. Africville in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver, British Columbia are other Canadian examples of the strategic targeting of black communities.

Little Burgundy’s name was kept until the 1980s, when it was renamed Quartier Georges-Vanier after Governor General Georges Vanier to eliminate the negative social associations (attached for some to histories of its black presence) with the struggling low-income neighbourhood that prevented top developers from investing. The renaming of the area attempted to complete the erasure of the beloved Burgz, but not for the black residents, who still claim the area as their own. Today, Little Burgundy (Quartier Georges Vanier) is only 18% of black.

Jackson’s exhibition asks his audience to remember and celebrate the vibrant histories, community, and individuals of Burgz. As art historian Prof. Eddie Chambers has noted, “Jackson’s work restores humanity to people from whom this critical characteristic has been routinely withheld or withdrawn. And in restoring humanity, a thousand stories of life can be, and are, told.”  I concur. Jackson’s exhibition is worth a visit and his photography and films now form another essential archive for the memory of beloved Burgz.

 

 

 

Audrey Arthurs

Audrey Arthurs is a PhD candidate in the History Department at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. Her PhD dissertation focuses on the visual culture of Black Male Resistance on reggae vinyl album cover art.  She completed her MA in Art History at Concordia University (Montreal) in 2021 and her thesis reflected an interdisciplinary perspective, exploring the performance of gender and sexuality in Wilfred Limonious’ dancehall vinyl album covers. Her academic interests include Caribbean Art History, Black Activism Art, Black Diaspora Studies, Canadian Slavery, Transatlantic Slavery Studies, Vinyl Album Art (specifically Reggae and Dancehall Album Art), Black Women and Resistance, Black Masculinity, and Gender and Sexuality Studies. In 2021, she presented “FIREBUN’ Women as Active Agents in Resistance in the Danish West Indies,” at the NSCAD BHM Graduate Student Panel in Halifax, Nova Scotia and “Fist High, Kneel Low: Let Unity and Defiance Be Shown” at the Concordia University 26th Annual Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference in Montreal, Quebec. Audrey is Jamaican by birth, but has lived in Canada since childhood.