about
Exprimer l’invisible: L’art de prendre la parole took place on September 25, 2025, at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ). This peer-led event brought together people with lived and living experience, artists, community workers, researchers, and members of the general public for a day of presentations, discussions, and artistic exhibitions.
Designed and led by people directly affected by substance use, homelessness, mental health challenges, criminalization, and sex work, the event aimed to highlight art as a means of expression and recognize the expertise that comes from lived experience. The programming and activities were co-constructed by an organizing committee made up of people with lived and living experience and their allies.
Nothing about us, without us.
Celebrating the art and experiential knowledge of marginalized communities.
Event Objectives
- Promote art as a tool for expression, dialogue, and empowerment for marginalized people.
- Highlight the lived realities and the intersectionality of the multiple forms of oppression faced by many communities.
- Create an inclusive space that fosters dialogue among people with lived experience, researchers, community workers, artists, and the general public.
- Highlight peer-led initiatives and artistic approaches used in research and community intervention.
- Help showcase Québec through an innovative, peer-led initiative created by and for people with lived and living experience.
Public visé
The event brought together:
- people with lived or living experience (PWLLE)
- healthcare and community sector stakeholders
- policymakers and institutional stakeholders
- artists and art therapists
- the general public
The Committee
This event is the result of the hard work of the organizing committee, whose commitment and dedication made it possible. From conception to implementation, these individuals played a key role at every stage. Meet them here!
Isabelle Boisvert
Isabelle Boisvert is the BY AND FOR Partnerships Lead at the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM), as well as a co-researcher with the Women+ Cohort at the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Research Chair on Gender and Substance Use Interventions. Drawing on both professional and experiential expertise, she has worked for several years to develop community-based research approaches, knowledge mobilization strategies, and peer-led recruitment strategies for marginalized populations, in collaboration with community organizations, researchers, and people with lived and experiential knowledge.
She develops strategic partnerships and engagement approaches to support the meaningful participation of people who use drugs in research. She has notably developed community-based research clinics in Montreal and led a scientific article examining the effectiveness of peer-led recruitment strategies. She regularly presents her work at provincial, national, and international conferences and also works as a consultant for various organizations and institutions, including the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), the Collège des médecins du Québec, and ChangeMark Research + Evaluation.
Her personal journey includes lived experience related to substance use, opioid agonist therapy (OAT), hepatitis C, homelessness, sex work, harm reduction, and recovery. This experience informs an approach deeply rooted in equity, harm reduction, and the recognition of experiential knowledge.
She is the initiator and coordinator of Exprimer l’invisible, an artistic, community-based, and knowledge mobilization initiative BY AND FOR people affected by substance use, mental health challenges, homelessness, criminalization, and sex work. As part of this initiative, she oversees the project’s overall coordination in close collaboration with the organizing committee, composed of people with lived and experiential knowledge and allies. Her responsibilities include team supervision, logistical and event planning, fundraising, budget management, partnership development, and programming across the various components of the initiative. Her involvement also extends to the selection of artistic and video content, the development of visual identities and promotional materials, the selection of artists and speakers, as well as the coordination of the research component and documentation of the participatory process. Through this work, she actively contributes to raising the profile of the initiative, mobilizing the knowledge generated through it, and supporting the sustainability of the Exprimer l’invisible movement.
Mélodie Talbot
Mélodie Talbot is a community organizer and a person with lived and living experience who has been involved in representing people who use drugs for over 14 years. As a community organizer with AQPSUD, a member of GID, and co-organizer of the Exprimer l’invisible project, she works at the intersection of harm reduction, health promotion, and advocacy for the rights of people who use drugs.
Her work is grounded in a human rights, social justice, collective empowerment, and experiential knowledge approach. Having personally experienced several losses related to the consequences of the war on drugs, including the overdose crisis, she has developed grief discussion workshops and guides aimed at creating and expanding safe spaces where people can express, share, and collectively process their experiences of loss and survival.
Role in Exprimer l’invisible:
▪ Co-organization: Isabelle and I had a conversation about the importance of art in harm reduction and the impact that art had had on each of us. We also had confidence in our ability to organize a day created by people with lived and living experience / people who use or have used drugs.
▪ Organizing Exprimer l’invisible was not simple, as every detail, down to the smallest one, had to be carefully considered. It was during the organizing committee meetings that we made sure everything was coordinated and that we were moving forward at a good pace. We had a strong core group of people who helped organize the day, without whom none of this would have been possible.
Panel
I co-constructed the panel with Flo. It was very important to us to bring together a diversity of people and experiences in order to address different realities and show that there are many ways of integrating art into harm reduction. We also wanted the panelists to feel supported and accompanied throughout the process. For this reason, we organized two preparatory meetings during which we asked for their input on the format, themes, and questions. We also took the time to identify with them the topics they felt most comfortable discussing.
Among the panelists were people with lived and living experience who were able to share the impact that art and these projects have had on their lives. We also invited people who have developed initiatives combining art and harm reduction to show that these projects are possible and can have a meaningful impact, both on participants and on those who organize them.
The Panel Discussion
During the Exprimer l’invisible event, I had the pleasure of moderating the panel discussion.
Art Workshops
We held a series of two art workshops with people who use or have used drugs and/or people with lived and experiential knowledge. We only had six spots available, so it was easy to find people who were motivated and interested in creating a collective artwork that embodied the idea of Exprimer l’invisible. Jessica and I co-facilitated the art workshops, and they were a great success, as our different personalities complemented each other very well. We took the time to really reflect with the participants on the art we were creating and what it represented to each person involved. Jessica created the torso and head of a human figure out of wire, and the participants filled the structure with all kinds of art representing things that are not always visible, but that we nevertheless feel.
One of the most memorable moments of the workshops was when participants took turns sharing the meaning behind their artwork with us. It was incredibly rewarding to create a space that was open, non-judgmental, and centered on listening. It was really important to Jessica and me that the art workshops be a safe space for self-expression. When we look at the impact of these activities, it makes you wonder why there aren’t more of them happening year-round!
On-Site Art Workshops :
During the Exprimer l’invisible event, Jessica and I, with the help of a few people on site, facilitated a collective art workshop. Throughout most of the day, participants were invited to express themselves through art on a large canvas. We were also responsible for setting it up during the closing speech so that everyone could return to the main room for the 5-to-7 gathering and see the large collaborative artwork we had created together.
Impact Analysis with the Research Team
I conducted the focus groups with the panelists and with the people who participated in the art workshops at AQPSUD, alongside Léonie Archambeault and Antoine Bertrand.
Jeannine Foisy
After struggling with substance use for several decades, I was able to regain control over my life. I now contribute to society by collaborating on various projects aimed at improving practices and services related to substance use.
Responsibilities:
▪ I am a member of the organizing committee
▪ Room set-up the day before the event
▪ Responsible for and involved in preparing the welcome and registration area on the day of the event
▪ Responsible for planning and coordinating the safe space throughout the day
▪ Connected the two communications cooperatives (L’Argot and WebTV) to provide English translation of the conferences.
▪ Participated in the meetings of the Exprimer l’invisible research committee, where we were responsible for documenting the processes used throughout the organization in a methodology document for the analysis of the results.
▪ Contacted and invited the two community organizations (Anonyme and the GRIP) to provide their minibuses free of charge during the event, offering drug checking services and a consumption space.
▪ Took part in dismantling the rooms at the end of the day
▪ Participated in the research interview with Léonie
I have to admit that my involvement grew increasingly over time because I wanted to do things well, and I felt fortunate to be working for AIDQ, which gave me the opportunity to take on these responsibilities—something that was not the case for everyone on the organizing committee. My involvement ultimately grew to a level I could never have imagined, but it was well worth it, given all the positive feedback we received about the event. Looking back, I realized that the experience was absolutely worth it, and I would not hesitate to do it again if needed. It was a valuable experience that taught me a lot about myself and my management skills, and showed me that peers are capable of achieving so much when we are trusted and well supported.
Geneviève Fortin
Geneviève Fortin is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and performer whose practice draws on lived experience, resistance, and solidarity. A social work graduate and Communications Officer at the Institut universitaire sur les dépendances, she combines her artistic practice with her involvement in research and intervention settings.
From incarceration to personal rebuilding, her journey informs a practice in which art becomes a means of speaking out. As co-founder and Vice-President of the collective “Art Entr’Elles,” she advocates for the recognition of the voices of criminalized women in artistic and social spaces. Her work has been exhibited, performed, and published, notably in the book Des deux côtés de la prison.
As part of Exprimer l’invisible, Geneviève Fortin contributes to the event’s conception and promotion, particularly through the development of communication tools, the structuring of content, and support for outreach and dissemination. Her involvement aims to support a platform for people with lived experience to speak for themselves, with experiential knowledge guiding the messages, content, and spaces for dialogue.
Barbara Rivard
Barbara Rivard is a community worker with lived and living experience related to opioid use. Having been involved in the harm reduction field for several years, she works at Méta d’Âme and regularly collaborates with Escodi, AIDQ, IUD, and Profan. She is also a speaker and advocate for humane and pragmatic approaches to substance use, and participates in overdose prevention and anti-stigma initiatives. Her participation in the organizing committee of the Exprimer l’invisible event, as well as her role as master of ceremonies and opening speaker, are a natural extension of her own recovery journey. Her passage from darkness—marked by shame, guilt, and silence—to light, reclaiming her voice, and transforming her personal story resonates deeply with her commitment: to create spaces where stories that are too often rendered invisible can be heard, recognized, and carried collectively.
Thomas Haig
Thomas Haig is a research professional in the Department of Community Health at the Université de Sherbrooke’s Longueuil campus, where he coordinates research projects aimed at developing inclusive, accessible, and tailored substance use interventions and services for diverse populations, including women and members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities. He previously worked in the HIV/AIDS movement and in sexual health promotion within the community sector. For the past 30 years, his passion has been facilitating innovative projects that draw on both scientific and experiential knowledge to improve community well-being and reduce health inequities. As part of Exprimer l’invisible, he contributed to the project’s development, with a particular focus on managing budgets and participatory research activities.
Marie-Eve Simard
As a feminist community worker, Master’s student in sociology, and holder of lived and experiential knowledge related to substance use and psychiatric diagnosis, Marie-Ève Simard takes a critical look at institutional violence, health inequalities, and the power dynamics that shape the experiences of women who have received a mental health diagnosis. She is also interested in the forms of resistance and agency that emerge within these constraints. She works with people who use drugs through a harm reduction approach and advocates for alternative practices that place self-determination at the heart of intervention, challenging punitive, coercive, and carceral approaches.
Son implication dans le projet Exprimer l'Invisible s’inscrit dans la continuité de ses engagements envers la valorisation des savoirs expérientiels, la création d’espaces inclusifs, sécuritaires et créatifs, l’aide mutuelle et la justice sociale. Ce projet est particulièrement significatif pour elle, car la peinture abstraite et expressive a constitué dans sa trajectoire un espace de création lui permettant de libérer ses émotions et de se reconnecter à elle-même. Elle voit dans l’art un espace radical de reprise de pouvoir et de résistance, à partir duquel il devient possible de transformer les récits personnels en puissants leviers de changement et de solidarité collective.
Flo Martel
Vincent de Maisonneuve
Vincent de Maisonneuve s’implique dans le milieu de la réduction des méfaits depuis 2017, travaillant principalement à l’Association québécoise pour la promotion de la santé des personnes utilisatrices de drogue (AQPSUD). Il y développe des outils de prévention et donne des formations de la perspective de personne avec savoir expérientiel. Il milite également contre la prohibition des substances psychoactives.
Myriam Le Lan
Partners
We would like to warmly thank our partners, without whom this event would not have been possible. Their support, trust, and commitment played an essential role in making this conference a reality.
