It was manifesto time in 1993 for young playwright (Louis) Patrick Leroux, founder of Théâtre la Catapulte, which had been established a year earlier in Ottawa. When it came to sharing a manifesto, there was no better place through which be heard than in the arts magazine Liaison. Founded in 1978 by the Ontario organization Théâtre Action, Liaison’s first issue was described as a “small journalistic-type information periodical, or compendium of a community of ideas, sensations or intentions” (Jean-Pierre Bégin, Liaison (1978): 2). Its creation responded primarily to a collective need for a publication that would promote the various activities of Ontario’s francophone arts community. In addition to its informative dimension, the Liaison represented an important forum for expression, artistic and literary criticism, creation and exchange for a whole range of actors whose work affects francophone artistic practice in Canada.

The presentation of a thematic dossier surrounding the publication of Leroux’s Manifeste de la génération manifeste offered an opportunity to debate contemporary social and artistic issues. The aesthetic program proposed by the defender of Generation X in the face of baby boomers was well summed up by the title of the thematic dossier, which brought together reactions to the manifesto from ten artists of varying ages and artistic disciplines: Notre place: Tasse-toé (Our Place: Step Aside). As evidenced by the contributions published in this dossier, Leroux’s invitation to express solidarity between peers was perceived above all as clumsy. Far more than an intergenerational conflict, the reactions to this manifesto attested to the diversity of issues preoccupying artists at the end of the century in creation to creative practice: stylistic paradigms and technological transformations, infrastructure and professional development, industrialization and commodification of art, and the fundamentally intersectional nature of inequalities experienced across generations.

The influence of Liaison magazine extended to Acadia and Western Canada. Published four to five times a year by Ottawa-based Éditions l’Interligne, this arts magazine ceased publication in 2018 after forty years of activity.