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.