Océane Buxton. Prophétesse

Prophétesse is a photography and video art exhibition that underscores the ambiguity between reality and fiction, both in how individuals perform in the public space and in how stories fueling the collective imagination are constructed. Combining documentary investigation and gossip, it examines the links between celebrity culture and urban legends. The exhibition’s protagonist is an enigmatic local celebrity in Thetford Mines named Modeste Niquette. This polarizing woman claimed that she had recurring extraterrestrial encounters, which she documented through photographs. She circulated her photos around town and told prophesies that were met with strong reactions from the inhabitants. In the end, she went missing under mysterious circumstances, yet her story received little media attention. Based on her photographic archives, the exhibition retraces the glorious and controversial moments of her life, painting the portrait of this spectral figure whose unexplained disappearance only reinforced her mythical status in the folklore of her hometown.