To complete this newsletter… here is something different, a video link that allows me to share a poignant encounter I had with Leonard Cohen four years ago in Montreal. To be honest, my encounter with the great poet/musician wasn’t in person; it was through an unforgettable exhibition, Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything, presented at Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (known as MAC) on the Place des Arts complex.
The title comes from Leonard Cohen’s original lyric: Ring the bells that still ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

The exhibition was a major success because of its immersive blend of songs, photos, reminiscences, videos, new creations and unique virtual experiences where we attendees creatively reworked the master’s poems and lyrics, even standing in a circle of men from the city’s Jewish community who had been videotaped singing as if Leonard were still among them.
Here’s a YouTube link to MAC’s own video with Mr. Cohen himself singing.Being at the exhibition was an intergenerational adventure. 300,000 visitors participated in the original presentation and now a bilingual virtual exhibition, inspired by the original, has opened with free access for the next three years to anyone residing in Canada.
It’s to encourage you to take in at least a portion of this virtual presentation – and thereby to get to know better a great Canadian music figure – that I include this link for your exploring. Let me quote from the materials that came to my attention:
“…Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything explores the universal aspect of Cohen’s predominant themes that illuminated his poetry and vast musical repertoire while uncovering the many links that can be drawn with contemporary art. Visitors can chart their own online journey, choosing to enjoy the show’s abundant documentary resources. Two sections – Explore and Gallery offer an alternative access to the exhibition’s vast content, some of which is unique to this online edition. Echo gathers the personal accounts and firsthand reactions of the audience. Content offers a presentation of the virtual exhibition itself, an introduction to its main themes and artists, as well as ten pivotal biographical moments in the life of Leonard Cohen.”
Never will I forget how moved I was by this vivid exhibition. I urge you to set aside your own time to immerse yourself in even a portion of A Crack in Everything.
Explore the exhibition here.

Photo credit: G News |