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VIGNEAULT Madame Odilon (Marie Gaudet)

Born
Saint-Come, QC, 1854
Died
Joliette, QC, 1932
Biography synopsis
Marie Gaudet spent her childhood in Saint-Come where, at the age of ten, she was taught the intricate technique of flechee by her grandmother, Madame Pierre Gaudet. In the late 1890s, Gaudet moved around the Lanaudiere region before settling in Saint-Ambroise de Kildare and marrying Odilon Vigneault in 1898. As the ceinture flechee market collapsed around her, Gaudet was one of the few artisans who continued to practice the craft. Her efforts to preserve the art form even lead her to teach numerous students one of which, Madame Phidias Robert (Flore-Ida Chevalier), became extremely well known in flechee circles. In 1927 and 1928, Gaudet, along with Madame Napoleon Lord (Elisabeth Mireault), was invited by Marius Barbeau, a Quebec scholar of folklore, to participate in the "Festival de la chanson et des arts populaires." During this event she gave workshops and demonstrations with the aim of perpetuating the skills of traditional finger weaving. She is remembered by most flechee artists as a fierce guardian of the tradition and a dedicated teacher. In 1979, the "Festival de l'artisan a Sainte-Marcelline de Kildare was dedicated to her memory.
Media used
Finger Weaving: Ceinture flechee
File & Archive locations
McCord Museum Archives, QC
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Archives Lanaudière
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
Barbeau, Marius. Assomption Sash. Ottawa, ON: National Museum of Canada, 1937
Barbeau, Marius. Ceinture fléchée. Montreal: Les Éditions l'Étincelle, 1973
Barbeau, Marius. "Ceinture fléchée." Cahiers de l'Académie Canadienne-Française 9 (1962): 71-76
Barbeau, Marius. "Nos Ceintures fleches." La Revue populaire 33.11 (Nov 1940): 52 & 70
Barbeau, Marius. "Sashes for the Fur Trade." The Beaver June (1941): 24-27
Bourdeau-Picard, Michelle. Un symbole de taille: la ceinture fléchée dans l'art Canadien = An Alluring Symbol: The Arrow Sash in Canadian Art Joliette, QC: Musée d'art de Joliette, 2004
Curvalle, Elyette. "Gardiennes de la tradition de la ceinture flechee." Le Soleil (Quebec) 7 Feb. 1979: A10
Fortier, Stéphane. "Les Acadiens nous ont laissé un bel héritage." Journal de Joliette 13 Mar. 2013: 25
Genest Leblanc, Monique. Parle-moi de la ceinture flechee! Montreal, QC: Fides, 1977
Julien, Marie-Lise. "Metiers d'art: a remarquer et a valoriser." L'Artefact 5.5 (mars-avril 1997): 16-22
L'Association des artisans de ceinture flechee de Lanaudiere. Histoire et origines de la ceinture flechee traditionelle dite de L'Assomption. Sillery, QC: Les Editions du Septentrion, 1994
L'Association des artisans de ceinture flechee de Lanaudiere. "L'Association des artisans de ceinture flechee hote d'un colloque provincial." Journal L'Action 8 Feb. 1988: A16
Leduc, Maurice. "Fleches de toutes laines." Le Maclean (Montreal) (Dec. 1973): 30-32 & 38-40
Reneaud, Joanne. Le Genie de la ceinture flechee Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare, QC: Fondation Pierre Belanger, 1997
Simard, Cyril. Artisanat Quebecois. Montreal: Les Editions de l'Homme, 1975

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