Le Refus global

On Aug. 9, 1948, an attractive group of young artists and intellectuals gathered at a bookstore on Montreal's St. Catherine street. They had come to launch an anti-religious and anti-establishment manifesto called Le Refus global (Total Refusal). It was signed by 16 artists.
The controversial booklet contained a number of essays, two short plays, drawings as well as photographs by different contributors but at its heart was the main text penned by painter and mentor Paul-Emile Borduas.
In Le Refus global, Borduas called for a total rejection of all conventional thinking and advocated a freedom of ideas. It would become one of the most influential artistic and social documents in modern Quebec society.