History

Catering to the needs of folklore researchers for more than 25 years. In 1967, practically no documentation on the subject of Quebecois folk costume existed in Montreal. Jimmy Di Genova, director/founder of Les Sortilèges, had to seek information in Quebec City, with Mrs. Madeleine Doyon-Ferland, at the Archives of Laval University. Such a need incited him to create and develop consulting resources in Montreal, starting with his own library. With, at the beginning, no specific legal identity, the Center was merely used as a source of documentation for Les Sortilèges.

Created in 1977, the Center becomes The Marius-Barbeau Documentation Center and has been used since as a repository where Jimmy Di Genova's personnal archives, as well as those, among others, of the Centre de recherche et d'information folklorique de Montréal (CRIFM) can be consulted. Long before other organizations and institutions adopted the name of Marius Barbeau, the Center chose to honor both his name and pioneering work. Besides catering to the needs of the national folk ensemble Les Sortilèges, the MBDC also offers its resources to folklorists and researchers in general.

Crossroads of Folk Art, the Centre Marius-Barbeau is a center of excellence for national immaterial culture in all its diversity.

Organigram

Jimmy Di Genova
Director founder

Véronique Dubé
Coordinator of the Marius-Barbeau Centre

Robert Ascah
Chairman of the Board

Honorary Members

Michel Cartier
Founder of the Feux Follets
Retired professor
Departement of Communications – UQAM

Guy Landry
President of the Société du patrimoine d'expression du Québec

Marie-Berthe Lanoix
Craftswoman, member of the Association des artisans de ceinture fléchée de Lanaudière

Jean-François Leclerc
Museologist and retired director of Centre d'histoire de Montréal

Donat Taddeo
Deputy Chairman, Loyola High School

Theodor Vasilescu
Adviser in the field of research, preservation and scenic development of folklore and traditional dance.

Frantz Voltaire
Director of the Centre international de documentation et d'information haïtienne caribéenne et afro-canadienne (CIDIHCA)

Catherine Lambert
Museologist researcher

Yvette Michelin
Flécherande

Yves Bergeron
Museologist, Professor of Museology and Heritage, Director of Graduate Studies in Museology - UQAM

Pierre Anctil
Anthropologist and Professor, Department of History - University of Ottawa

The Center
includes six
distinct
components

Archive and
documentation
Center of folk
arts and
traditions
in Quebec

Center for
Research
and
Reference

Diffusion
of folk arts
and
traditions
in Quebec

Publication
of folk arts
and
traditions
in Quebec

Interpretation
Center
Quebec
costumes of
Yesteryear

Educational
resource
center and
cultural
partnerships