“Wake Up” by Isaiah Lopaz 

Exhibition / Window Projection|Collective Forms of Care

Window projections at the Goethe-Institut Montreal
from June 15 to July 5, 2026, from sunset to 2 a.m.

Collage illustrations, story, and direction: Isaiah Lopaz
Music: New Past
Motion design: David Warmbold
Assistance: Moya Michael
Length: 6’58 min.
Year: 2022

Made from over ninety hand cut collages, Wake Up is a video collaboration between Isaiah Lopaz and sound artists New Past. Based on a short story inspired by the lyrics of Wake Up (a song written by New Past), this piece highlights the dangers of not collectively resisting systems of oppression and structures of violence typically viewed as isolated events. This work is a call action which underscores shared responsibility and the links between communities, cultures, struggles and resistance movements.

This work is presented as part of the exhibition Collective Practices of Care, curated by Erandy Vergara Vargas. The exhibition brings together four works by artists from Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, displayedon our windowsand library from 15 June to 6 September 2026. The works offer a constructive reflection on a hostile world, as well as an exploration of acts of solidarity and practices of care aimed at building communities.

Projections from sunset to 2 am, on the window screens of the Goethe-Institut (1626 St-Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 2T1). The works are also viewable on a screen in our library space during the Goethe-Institut’s opening hours:

INSTITUTE OPENING HOURS
Monday: 5:30PM – 8:30 PM
Tuesday and Thursday: 2:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM – 8:30 PM
Friday: 4:30 PM – 7:30 PM

ARTIST

Isaiah Lopaz is a transdisciplinary artist, writer, and archivist based between Brussels and Rotterdam. Drawing from recent family histories shaped by colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade, their practice explores the ways in which personal narratives inform broader global entanglements. They are the founder of Black Visual Grammar, an evolving workshop and exhibition project that documents Black perspectives through collage-making and public archiving. Their work has been presented at institutions including: the HAU, the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, and the DAAD Galerie. They have been a guest lecturer at Kunsthochschule Weissensee, UDK, and St. Lucas Antwerp, and have received funding from the Berlin Senate for Culture and Europe, and Stiftung Kunstfonds.