International Day of Happiness Celebrations

On March 20th at 12:15, the Centre for Sustainable Development, Equiterre and the magazine L'Itinéraire will be celebrating the International Day of Happiness, a first in Canada since the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 20th the International Day of Happiness. A discussion panel will be held in collaboration with Martine Michaud for the grand opening of her exhibit, inspired by the theme "on the road towards gross national happiness".

The panel

The panel, titled On the Road Towards Gross National Happiness, will be hosted by Sylvain-Claude Filion,
 editor-in-chief for the magazine L’Itinéraire.

In 2014, is the GNP sufficient for gauging a country’s prosperity? Should the social and environmental well-being of populations be included in measuring tools such as the GNP? How can the three following pillars – social, economic and environmental well-being – be integrated to these tools? Would a gross national happiness index be a realistic measuring instrument? What can be done to mobilize governments?  How can the population’s aspiration for change at the political level be addressed?

Three panellists interested in governance, environmental and sustainable development issues will be examining these questions:

• Renaud Gignac, associate researcher at the Institut de recherche et d’informations socio-économiques (IRIS)
• Steven Guilbeault, senior director, Equiterre
• Ianik Marcil, independent economist

Event will last approx. 1 1/2 hours. Voluntary contributions. Sign up here: www.lamdd.org/rsvp

The exhibition

From March 20th to April 10th, the Centre will be hosting, in collaboration with the Ville-Marie borough, the exhibition On the Road Towards Gross National Happiness by Martine Michaud (Mishô).

Bhutan, a mythical country that only opened its doors to visitors in 1974, uses a unique index for gauging its prosperity. The country’s gross national happiness (GNH) is based on four pillars: responsible and sustainable economic development, the conservation and development of Bhutanese culture, the protection of the environment and strong state governance. 

“I made two recent trips to this small Himalayan kingdom of 750 000 citizens surrounded by India and Tibet,” sums up the photographer. “For two months, I crossed the country from East to West, I traveled through cities and on mountains roads, which are as spectacular as they are breathtaking. The country is a photographer’s paradise, especially if you take the time to get off the beaten track,” she adds. 

Martine Michaud focused on photographing celebrations and rituals as well as daily life, in the hopes of capturing traces of the peaceful happiness she noticed in the eyes of this calm and serene, but also playful people.

A silent auction will take place during the exhibition. Half of the profits 

A silent auction will be held during the exhibition. Half of the profits will go towards the artist's future projects. The other half will support the Centre for Sustainable Development’s cultural activities.

Martine Michaud (Mishô)

A multidisciplinary artist, Martine Michaud started her career teaching literature and drama at the cegep level in the Montreal region. She was also involved in the entertainment industry, receiving a Felix during the 1989 ADISQ gala for her holophonic concert named Kâ. She later cofounded and presided over an SME in Montreal, which produced software and edited an online magazine for the general public. 

Since 2007, she has dedicated herself exclusively to visual arts. Her photography portfolio includes photo essays and portraits as well as more abstract compositions produced in a digital darkroom. Her work, signed Mishô, has been presented to the public in many individual and collective exhibits since 2010. She is a member of the Union des artistes and is part of the collective AME-ART (Mile-End artists).

Many years of photography projects have allowed her to assemble a large body of work comprised of thousands of images from a variety of countries. A tireless traveler, she is particularly interested in communities that have preserved strong and vibrant national cultures despite the effects of globalization.        

Thank you!

The Centre for Sustainable Development would like to thank the artist, Equiterre, the Ville-Marie borough, La Face Cachée de la Pomme, the Metro newspaper, Novae and Alcoa, its main partner in programming. The greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the transportation of participants in the 2014 program will be offset thanks to a partnership with Planetair.