Québec Culture – September-December 2017
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UK – Ireland – Nordic Countries UK – Ireland – Nordic Countries September – December 2017 SEP – DEC 2017 01 Arts and Québec - Bonjour and welcome to our latest edition of Québec Homelessness British Council: Culture. in Montréal 15 years As always, we are delighted to share the wonderful array With One Voice is an of cultural of Québec culture coming to these shores over the next international movement that cooperation few months. This important presence is testament to seeks to strengthen and connect The Québec Government and the strength of our national relationships; something of the arts and homelessness sector through exchanges British Council are proud to particularly high value in the current international context in practice and policy. celebrate the 15th anniversary Photo © Asa Westerlund of upheaval and uncertainty. The arts, as we know, have Homelessness is not just about of their bilateral agreement an important role to play on the international scene housing. The use of the arts to support homeless people covering the areas of culture encouraging intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding with visibility, dignity, well-being and social inclusion and education. Although signed and value sharing. is widespread from choirs in Rio to dance companies in 2002, it has its roots in a in Tokyo. Such projects can also give homeless people relationship which dates back to People in Québec recognise the importance of the cultural sector as a basis for a voice, showing they exist and the importance of their 1980 when an exchange scheme affirming and propagating Québec identity, as well as for its economic and social experiences in shaping the future of homeless services for school language assistants, contribution. and related policies. which has seen over 1000 people take part to date, was put in With One Voice has been working in Canada and the USA The economic argument for public funding in culture is an important one. In Québec, place. since autumn 2016, mapping the sector and establishing the sector is responsible for 4.3% of GDP and 175,900 jobs. The Québec Government needs and challenges. We produced a North American Over 60 international cultural invests 1% of its annual budget to support the growth and development of this sector. Review of Arts and Homelessness (available online) exchange projects have received This is done with the backing of the population as shown in a recent survey which which found brilliant projects, organisations and people joint financial support over the revealed that 87% of Québécois value the work of artists as useful to society. in every place we visited. last 15 years. In Montréal we found more cultural and heritage projects Implemented to promote the One particularly eloquent example of this is the innovative and unsung work working with socially marginalised groups than in any creation and dissemination of happening in Montréal’s arts and homelessness sector: following the publication of other city in North America. These projects include cultural works, this programme their North American Review of Arts and Homelessness, With One Voice are doing EXEKO, Le Sac à Dos, St James Centre, Opéra de encourages cultural dialogue amazing work connecting this sector internationally and will be doing just that in Montréal and ATSA, whose project While Having Soup leading to better mutual Montréal this autumn. you can read about overleaf. understanding between the two societies. It enables cultural Our review found that, despite this excellent work, the We are also thrilled to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the cultural cooperation presence on the other’s territory, arts and homelessness sector is poorly resourced and the development of long-lasting between Québec and the British Council, a relationship which has fostered truly largely hidden from the public. To allow practitioners collaborative reciprocal projects. partnerships, the consolidation to create a greater voice for their work and to share of networks and the sharing of knowledge, we are holding an exchange for USA, cultural expertise. In this spirit of international cooperation, I hope that you will find much interest in Canadian and UK delegates including representatives these examples of the ways in which Québec is fostering cultural connections with the of NGOs, activists, practitioners, policy makers and The QC-UK Connections scheme wider world. As always, Maude and the cultural team would be delighted to hear from homeless people. The six-day event will take place in continues to grow, with the next you if there are any Québec-related projects you would like to discuss. November in Montréal, which we consider the current call for projects due in spring hub of best practice within the arts and homelessness 2018. Bonne lecture! sectors. Christos Sirros – Agent-General, Québec Government Office in London Matt Peacock Director with-one-voice.com , photo © Leif Norman Cultural Contacts Photo © Jean-François Lamoureux Maude Laflamme Marie Morin Helen Morgan Director for Culture Cultural Attaché Project Manager Soft Revolvers Soft [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Whilst every effort has been made to verify the accuracy This brochure should not be reproduced in full of the information in this brochure you are advised to or in part without the consent of the Québec +44(0)20 7766 5930 www.quebec.org.uk www.facebook.com/QuebecUK www.twitter.com/Quebec_UK contact the host organisations for confirmation. Government Office. | | | Cover: Myriam Bleau, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT MULTIDISCIPLINARY 02 SEP – DEC 2017 03 While Having Soup Staging Canada at Expo67 ATSA 1 – 4 November Various venues 2 – 3 September London, UK Freedom Festival Princes Dock Street This event, hosted by the Centre for Hull, UK Quebec and French-Canadian Studies in London, celebrates the 50th anniversary Hull Freedom Festival presents the of the most successful world’s fair of the UK premiere of While Having Soup, 20th century with a four-day event across ATSA’s public engagement piece where passers-by are invited to participate in a dialogue with London. a stranger using a locally-crafted ‘menu’ of conversation. The conversation lasts as long as it takes to eat a bowl of soup, and is recorded in the form of ‘poetic portraits’ which can be viewed Highlights include the UK premiere of documentary-thriller Expo67: Mission Impossible through outdoor projections during the festival and online thereafter. with director Guylaine Maroist, screenings of classic Québec films from the late 1960s, a 2-day academic symposium on Expo67 and world exhibitions, and a newly commissioned Founded by artists Annie Roy and Pierre Allard in 1997, ATSA produces transdisciplinary works performance of the forgotten multi-media masterpiece Miracles of Modern Medicine originally and events for the public realm born of a desire to raise public awareness of various social, produced for Expo’s Meditheatre. The event will conclude with a special programme of Photo © Jean-François Lamoureux environmental and heritage issues. innovative Expo films at the BFI Southbank. atsa.qc.ca | freedomfestival.co.uk modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/centre-quebec-and-french-canadian-studies Trophy STO Union THEATRE 9 – 11 September Dublin Fringe Festival Nomad Soul Barnardo Square Dublin, Ireland Théâtre Magali Chouinard Québec-based multi-disciplinary company STO Union joins forces with Sarah Conn, Allison 10 & 11 November O’Connor and Ireland-based collective Change of Address this September at Dublin Fringe The Creative School Festival. Silkeborg, Denmark Walk through a pop-up city of stories. Comprised of a cluster of tents, Trophy lights up Magali Chouinard is a multidisciplinary artist whose Barnardo Square in the city centre. Inside each tent, encounter a person who tells the true story theatre of images is both unique and striking. of a moment in their life when everything changed. Trophy is a living monument to all the experiences that make up our lives, and a compelling conversation about how we all experience Nomad Soul, appearing in its Scandinavian premiere as Photo © Dahlia Katz change. part of the Festival of Wonder, is a theatre performance fringefest.com | stounion.com using images, masks and puppets. Inspired by the spirituality of native peoples, it is a breathless journey Photo © Jean.Guy Lambert into our most intimate thoughts and impressions. festivalofwonder.dk | magalichouinard.com DANCE DANCE 04 SEP – DEC 2017 05 Mercurial George BESIDE Dana Michel Marie Béland 22 – 23 September 21 October 5 November 15 November Bastard Festival Nuuk Nordisk Culture Festival iC4C Open Studio, Cardiff Dance Festival Trondheim, Norway Nuuk, Greenland Nottingham, UK Cardiff, UK Dana Michel is a choreographer and performer whose work The final part of a trilogy,BESIDE uses a soundtrack of real-time mixes choreography, intuitive improvisation and performance radio and asks what happens if we look ‘beside’, if we bring the Sammy Rawal © art. In 2014, she was highlighted amongst notable female outside inside the theatre. The piece is a collaboration with Montréal Photo choreographers of the year by the New York Times. Danse. In Mercurial George the body wades through heaps of debris, vacillating as it struggles for Since its creation in 2005, the company maribé – sors de ce balance and a toehold. Bizarre, but also comical, Michel’s universe is bathed in childhood corps has produced a series of unique works. Choreographer naiveté and sacred mystery. Dana Michel breaks the mould. Marie Béland’s movement vocabulary draws together physical energy, absurd humour, pop culture, and audience involvement, danielleveilledanse.org in a juxtaposition of the senses that is as surprising as it is Photo © MontrealDanse joyful. Daina Ashbee maribe.ca | dance4.co.uk | dance.wales Solo for Pieter 20 October Vertical Nuuk Nordisk Culture Festival, Nuuk, Greenland Le Patin Libre This new work is a collaboration between Daina Ashbee and Belgian choreographer Pieter Ampe. The two artists share a September sensitive body practice that explores our relationship with the land, with society, and with the world in which we live.