In the years following the opening of the NAC in 1969, one of the joys of attending a performance in the Opera (now called Southam Hall), was to sit and quietly marvel at the sight of the breathtakingly beautiful Beauchemin Curtain. This massive artwork was designed by the renowned Canadian textile artist Micheline Beauchemin and fabricated by Kawashima Selcon Textiles in Tokyo for the opening of the Centre. It is made of a hand-woven colourful nylon filament netting that is layered in loops over a glittering gold canvas backing; the piece measures 12 metres high by 23 metres wide and weighs 1.5 tons. At the end of its stage life in 2018, almost fifty years after its unveiling, the curtain was taken down and put into safe storage. Though no longer visible within the Centre, the NAC is committed to exploring how the curtain can be made available to future generations through new, digital technologies.
Micheline Beauchemin was a highly regarded textile artist from Quebec. Her ambitious work pushed the bounds of this medium and helped her achieve the highest honours in Canada and garnered international recognition. Her studies began in Montreal and eventually took her to France where she had her first exhibitions. She returned to Quebec in 1957, where she undertook major projects for the National Arts Centre, Place des Arts, Queen’s Park (Toronto), York University, and Revenue Quebec. Beauchemin was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. She received the 2005 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts and the Prix Paul-Émile-Bordaus from the Quebec government. Micheline Beauchemin passed away in 2009.
