INTERVIEWS

Lavigne, Mathieu – Centre des Services de Justice Réparatrice

Mathieu Lavigne
Interviewer: Vanessa Sicotte
Language of interview: French
Country of practice: Canada
Profession: Centre des Services de Justice Réparatrice

Mathieu Lavigne has worked in different positions at the Centre des services de justice réparatrice (CSJR). The CSJR applies an approach to restorative justice that organises encounters between people related to each other by a similar crime, i.e. participants are connected by a similar offence, but do not share a specific event. During our conversation, Lavigne talks about his own experience as a community member in restorative encounters, as well as his work with survivors and offenders of different crimes, including cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, pedophilia, and assassinations. He describes participating in restorative justice processes as overwhelming, but empathetic work that includes multiple emotional complexities.  

Among other topics, Lavigne describes one restorative justice space, highlighting the importance of the spatial aspect in the overall experience of the process. He describes it as a beautiful chapel inside a penitentiary, with padded walls and comfortable furniture. The room was spacious, with natural light, and a view to the mountains. Each person had a warm beverage in their hands, which was a comforting element. However, the place had acoustic problems and surrounding noises, constantly reminding the participants of the fact that they were inside a prison. Among other aspects, Lavigne speaks about the safety considerations when using a penitentiary room, and how it can be anxiety inducing for participants. Thus, he explains it is important for the survivors to be able to familiarise themselves with the space before the beginning of the encounter. 

To conclude, Lavigne describes his perfect space for restorative practices making an analogy with a recording studio; an intimate room outside of the chaos, bathed in natural light with  visibility to the outdoors, and use of comfortable furniture. He focuses on the importance of the circle configuration to strengthen equality, and avoid power dynamics, and explains that it would be ideal to have a variety of rooms to choose from that would accommodate different needs of the participants. 

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Interviews

Vanessa Sicotte

is an author, speaker, columnist, and podcaster in the fields of architecture and decorative arts. She is completing her MA in Art History at Concordia University, Montréal, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Marketing from John Molson School of Business. She studied Industrial Psychology in Los Angeles, California. Sicotte is the author of two published books on design (2015, 2018) published by Les Éditions Cardinal.

Marcela Torres Molano

is a Colombian PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at Concordia University. She has a background in architectural design and community activism and holds a master’s degree in Building and Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, England. Her interests focus on socially-engaged art, social movements, collaborative activism in post-conflict scenarios, collectively-produced art, and art produced in relation to the built environment.

Greg Labrosse

is a PhD candidate in Humanities at Concordia University. His research focuses on spatial agency, social aesthetics, youth narratives, and graphic representations of urban memory. He has published on the relationship between children, play, and public space in Cartagena, Colombia. He has also worked as an editor on literary projects, including Territorio Fértil, which received the María Nelly Murillo Hinestroza award for Afro-Colombian literature.

Dr Ipek Türeli

is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice (Tier 2) at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture at McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Her research interests include low-income housing and participatory design, civil protest and urban design, and campus landscapes and race. Her publications include the co-edited book, Orienting Istanbul (2010) and solo-authored book, Istanbul Open City (2018).

Dr Cynthia Imogen Hammond

is an artist and a professor of Art History at Concordia University. Her work focuses on women and the history of the built environment, urban landscapes, research-creation, and oral history. She has published on the spatial history of the suffrage movement, public art, gardens, and the politics of urban change. In addition to her research on the spaces of restorative and transitional justice, she is leading an oral history project on the urban memories of diverse Montrealers.

Luis C. Sotelo Castro

is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at Concordia University, Montreal (Quebec, Canada). He is also the second co-director of Concordia’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling. His latest publications explore listening in the context of post-conflict performances of memory. For instance, see ‘Facilitating voicing and listening in the context of post-conflict performances of memory. The Colombian scenario.’ In: De Nardi, S., Orange, H., et al. Routledge Handbook of Memoryscapes. Routledge: London. (2019), and his article ‘Not being able to speak is torture: performing listening to painful narratives’. International Journal of Transitional Justice, Special Issue Creative Approaches to Transitional Justice: Contributions of Arts and Culture. (March, 2020)