CULTURE MONTRÉAL NEWSLETTER
June 7, 2006

• NEWS FROM CULTURE MONTRÉAL
• CULTURAL NEWS
• IN THE BOROUGHS
• INTERNATIONAL NEWS IN BRIEF
• EVENTS
• EMERGING ARTISTS AND PRACTICES
• CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

A “summit meeting” for Culture Montréal members

On May 29, the main lines of the 2007 Montréal, Cultural Metropolis Summit were announced. In order to present the latest information on the preparations for the 2007 Summit and the issues under discussion, Culture Montréal invites its members to an exclusive 5 à 7. It will be held on Thursday, June 8, 2006, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Salle Mandoline in the Jean-Talon Market. Please confirm your attendance by contacting Karine Landry at karine.landry@culturemontreal.ca. Take this opportunity to hear all the latest about the 2007 Summit and to wish your colleagues at Culture Montréal a great summer.

A café gathering organized by the GPAT Committee

On June 5, Culture Montréal’s Major Municipal Development Projects Committee, known as GPAT for its French name (Grands projets d’aménagement du territoire), held a café gathering to consider the presence of visual art in the city. The committee invited artists, designers, and experts on public art and visual art to attend. The initiative is especially interesting in that it feeds into Culture Montréal’s reflections on the recognition of public art events, the creative process in public art, and the conservation, accessibility and enumeration of public artworks. From the discussions, we learned that artists and designers would like to see greater utilization of spaces, buildings, and construction sites to integrate artworks. At the same time, the population would like the presence of artworks in their environments to be increased. Artists want to be integrated into the early stages of any process of creation and construction to which they contribute. Lastly, there is a real need to recognize the work of organizations that add to the city’s dynamism through democratic artistic practices in parks and public places. A report on the café gathering will be posted to the Culture Montréal Web site shortly.

In our UNESCO City of Design

Recently given the prestigious title of UNESCO City of Design, Montréal has already embarked on a first project that will bring together designers from the three cities currently in the City of Design network—Berlin, Buenos Aires and Montréal. The designers will be invited to enrich the redevelopment program for Place d’Armes in Old Montréal. In addition, next fall, the Bureau Design Montréal will launch a Doors Open on Design and Architecture event to encourage Montrealers to discover or rediscover the talents and achievements that, all over the city, reflect the creative drive recognized by UNESCO.

The Jardins de Métis in Square Victoria

Here is a fine example of exchange between Quebec’s metropolis and the Gaspé region. Until July 31, the celebrated International Garden Festival of Les Jardins de Métis in Grand-Métis comes to Square Victoria in downtown Montréal for a special exhibition known as Métis-sur-Montréal. Atelier in Situ has designed a site-specific installation for Square Victoria called “10,000 Up,” an urban arbour composed of recycled green drink cans. The work is sponsored by aluminium giant Alcoa and it illustrates the good and bad uses of this metal. It’s also a way for Les Jardins de Métis to promote its festival, which is presenting its 7th edition this year. The festival features 11 contemporary gardens by Canadian, German, American and French designers. If you haven’t had the chance to see “10,000 Up” since it was installed, it’s worth a visit! Apparently, it bears some resemblance to the metro station right beside it…

IN THE BOROUGHS

PLATEAU MONT-ROYAL

Swing your partner at Beaver Lake!

From June 1 to August 31, folk dancers can promenade to their hearts’ content on Mount Royal. Organized by the Association montréalaise des arts et traditions populaires in collaboration with the City of Montréal’s Direction du développement culturel et des bibliothèques, the outdoor dance sessions will be held every Monday and Thursday evening from 8:00 to 11:00 pm. On Mondays, instructors will teach participants the basics of international folk dances from around twenty countries, and on Thursdays, more experienced dancers will perform a wide range of choreographies. The dance sessions are a Montréal tradition, drawing 2,000 dancers and as many spectators every summer for the past fifty years. Admission is free and the session is cancelled in the event of rain. Grab your partner, do-si-do!

RIVIÈRES-DES-PRAIRIES — POINTE-AUX-TREMBLES

Community art in Alexis-Carrel Park

On May 30, Alexis-Carrel Park became the site of the very first community art project in the Rivière-des-Prairies area when the sound installation “Souffles, identités poreuses” was unveiled. This innovative project was designed to give local residents and visitors to the park permanent contact with artistic creation, while taking advantage of the presence and experience of visual artist Christine Brault. For 42 days, in her art studio temporarily set up in the library, the artist recorded “breaths of air”—words, sounds and songs gathered from citizens of all ages and backgrounds, including around a hundred elementary schoolchildren—and preserved them in writing on polyester sheets. The sheets were then hung on the branches of trees in the park, allowing the wind to take up the words and transform them. A poetic and inspiring community art initiative!

Global Creative Economy Summit in Philadelphia

The creative industries have an impact on every aspect of the economy. Recognizing that, Innovation Philadelphia decided to organize the first Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, scheduled for June 12 to 14, 2006. Artists and professionals from non-profit and for-profit organizations from around the world will gather in the state of Pennsylvania for three days to learn about the practices and strategies of the most successful creative economies. All sectors will be represented: design, architecture, engineering, textiles, fashion, music and film production, communications, software development, scenic and visual arts and Web design. Attendees will share experiences and learn how the creative industries interact and converge to generate wealth, create jobs and offer business opportunities within their communities. The event has an intriguing schedule of workshops and panels that are relevant to Montréal, a city of design and creativity, and the upcoming Montréal, Cultural Metropolis Summit.
http://www.ipphila.com/creativeeconomy/GCECS/itinerary.htm

MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS

Van Gogh at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival

Interdisciplinarity in the highest places! From June 9 to 30, 2006, the St. James United Church—the beautiful church with an amphitheatre layout located near Place des Arts, whose façade is currently being renovated—will host the 11th edition of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival. Founded in 1995, the event promotes chamber music in all its diverse forms through collaborations with other artistic disciplines to encourage discovery and appreciation of Montréal’s cultural and heritage richness. Note that the concert “Van Gogh’s Ear” will be performed in New York as a pre-festival concert on June 8, then in Montréal on June 17.
http://www.festivalmontreal.org/home/homeF.html

Only a few days left to see “Green Energy Benny Farm” at the CCA

Until June 11, the Canadian Centre for Architecture presents the exhibition “Green Energy Benny Farm” in the Hall Cases. This urban, landscape and architectural project in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce represents an unprecedented attempt to integrate buildings, infrastructure, and landscape design in a community-oriented housing development. The exhibition presents the main aspects of the project, which involved the sustainable construction and renovation of 187 units on four properties. Each building was linked to a shared infrastructure of energy, water, and waste systems. Developed by L’ŒUF (L'Office de l'éclectisme urbain et fonctionnel), a Montréal architectural firm, the Benny Farm project is a model of green architecture. Green culture is gaining ground in Montréal!
http://cca.qc.ca and http://www.loeuf.com/fr/index.php

A second round table for the Emerging Artists and Practices Committee

Last Monday, 22 young artists from the music, visual arts, crafts, theatre, dance and multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary sectors participated in the second round table organized by Culture Montréal’s Emerging Artists and Practices Committee. The topic under discussion was relations with the associations. Asked to express their views on four variables—access to associations, services offered, articles of association, and associative activities—the participants first noted that they all suffered from a lack of information on the many existing associations and their specificities. They felt that the associations (often in the same discipline) should work more closely together to facilitate access to them by emerging artists, for example through a reduction to the high cumulative cost of annual membership fees. The participants then agreed on the pertinence of linking the associations’ services to the needs of emerging artists, both individuals and companies. As for associative activities, the participants stressed that emerging artists should be invited to participate very early on, which would allow more direct access to information. A third and final round table will be held in the fall on the topic of access to infrastructures. It will allow the committee to conclude its reflections on these issues and prepare recommendations to the relevant bodies and associations.

A bridge between art and finance

The alternative financing association ACEM (L’association communautaire d’emprunt de Montréal) is offering a new program aimed at artists, creators, producers and directors working in film, visual arts, interactive media, music and literature who are unable to access the services of conventional banking institutions at specific stages in their productions. Appropriately named Le pont (The Bridge), the program meets the need for interim financing during the waiting period for tax credits and funding instalments, and provides bridge financing during the start-up and production phases of a project. To be eligible for these funds, you must of course meet certain criteria in terms of social impact and economic aspects. For more details, call (514) 843-6331.

Conseil des Montréalaises: cultural candidates wanted!

The City of Montréal is presently seeking candidates to become members of the Conseil des Montréalaises. Composed of 15 volunteer members, the advisory body provides opinions to the municipal council and executive council on all issues concerning the living conditions of Montréal women, the status of women and gender equality. This is a fine opportunity to demonstrate the excellence of women in the arts and culture sector—and there is no shortage of them, judging by their numbers in the arts, television and communications communities. Submissions must be received no later than June 30, 2006, at 4:00 pm. For more details on the selection criteria and submission of candidacies, contact Hugo Henderson at hhenderson@ville.montreal.qc.ca or go to the Conseil des Montréalaises page of the City of Montréal Web site at ville.montreal.qc.ca.

Recognition for Women of Distinction

In exemplary fashion, the Montréal Women’s Y gave considerable space to women in the arts and culture when it named the winners of the Women of Distinction Gala 2006. Actor Karine Vanasse was named Young Woman of Distinction; filmmaker, producer and scriptwriter Léa Pool was named in the category Arts and Culture; and journalist and administrator Greta Chambers was named a Pioneer Woman of Distinction.

Newsletter
Coordination: Lily Gaudreault
Research and Writing: Dominick Parenteau-Lebeuf
Translation: Christine York

NEXT ISSUE : Week of June 19, 2006

Culture Montréal wishes to thank its members, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Cirque du Soleil and the Ville de Montréal for their financial support.

Culture Montréal
3680, rue Jeanne-Mance, bureau 317
Montréal (Québec) H2X 2K5
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info@culturemontreal.ca
www.culturemontreal.ca