Biennale Montreal 2016

BIENNALE DE MONTRÉAL 2016

LE GRAND BALCON - The Grand Balcony

Will take place 19.10.16 — 15.01.17

Le Grand Balcon will feature an unprecedented number of new commissions and international co-productions of works by Canadian and international artists. It will combine a multi-site exhibition, publications, and a dynamic series of performances, concerts, film screenings, talks, tours, conferences, encounters and experiences. 

Le Grand Balcon was conceptualized and curated by Philippe Pirotte in dialogue with curatorial advisors Corey McCorkle, Aseman Sabet and Kitty Scott, and in close collaboration with Sylvie Fortin, Executive and Artistic Director of La Biennale de Montréal. BNLMTL 2016 is presented by La Biennale de Montréal and co-produced with the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC), in collaboration with 14 other local partners and venues.

Here are some statistics for the

BIENNALE DE MONTRÉAL 2016, LE GRAND BALCON :

75 days
45+ artists and collectives (preliminary list)
16 Canadian artists (including 8 Québec artist
35 new works
23 countries (Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States).
15+ exhibition venues and local collaborations
10 international co-productions
4 publications 

The mission of La Biennale de Montréal is to foster, support, interpret and disseminate the most current visual arts practices by producing the biennial event BNLMTL. All of the initiatives of La Biennale de Montréal are premised on risk and experimentation. Its goal is to support the most daring, thought-provoking art practices and curatorial projects while offering the public a diversity of experiences.

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PRELIMINARY LIST OF ARTISTS AND COLLECTIVES

(The complete list will be announced in September 2016)

Haig Aivazian (Lebanon)

NjidekaAkunyili Crosby (Nigeria/USA)

Knut Åsdam (Norway)

Eric Baudelaire (France)

Thomas Bayrle (Germany)

Nadia Belerique (Canada)

Valérie Blass (Canada)

Michael Blum (Israel/Germany/France/Canada)

Shannon Bool (Canada/Germany)

Dineo Seshee Bopape (South Africa)

Elaine Cameron-Weir (Canada/USA)

Chris Curreri (Canada)

Moyra Davey (Canada/USA)

Nicole Eisenman (USA)

Em’kal Eyongakpa (Cameroon/Netherlands)

Liao Guohe (China)

Judith Hopf (Germany)

Anne Imhof (Germany)

Luis Jacob (Peru/Canada)

Myriam Jacob-Allard (Canada)

Brian Jungen (Canada)

Hassan Khan (Egypt)

Meiro Koizumi (Japan)

Zac Langdon-Pole (New Zealand/Germany)

Tanya Lukin Linklater (USA/Canada)

Kerry James Marshall (USA)

Corey McCorkle (USA)

Nathalie Melikian (Canada/Sweden)

Joe Namy (Lebanon/USA)

Shahryar Nashat (Switzerland/Germany)

Camille Norment (USA/Norway)

Celia Perrin Sidarous (Canada)

PURE FICTION (Germany)

Lucy Raven (USA)

Marina Rosenfeld (USA)

Ben Schumacher (Canada/USA)

Walter Scott (Canada)
Benjamin Seror (France/Belgium)

Frances Stark (USA)

Luke Willis Thompson (New Zealand/UK)

David Gheron Tretiakoff (France/Belgium)

Luc Tuymans (Belgium)

Jacob Wren (Canada)

Haegue Yang (Germany/South Korea)

Xu Zhen (China)

For more information, visit the La Biennale de Montréal website. 

Last Night at the Gayety

Centaur Theatre
April 19 - May 15, 2016

The Gayety Theatre (1912 to 1953) was once a real Montréal landmark. It was located at 84 Sainte-Catherine Street West, at the place where now stands Le Théâtre du Nouveau Mond. It was built by architects Ross and Macfarlane, and became one of Montreal’s prime places of public entertainment, with a capacity (including balcony and gallery) to sit 1,600 guests. The theatre began as a Vaudeville venue. During the great depression, when American Vaudeville collapsed, the Gayety briefly became a movie theatre. Later, and until it closed in 1953, it featured more risqué Burlesque shows.

The Gayety Theatre along with other clubs became a part of a Montreal’s red light district which by the late forties was associated with organized crime and corruption, in which police and politicians were often complicit. In 1950 La Comite de Moralite Publique (CMP) was formed to conduct an official inquest surrounding corruption in Montreal. This resulted in many of the cabarets of Montreal’s red light district, including The Gayety to be shut down.

The play portrays the final act of the Gayety’s Theatre existence. It recreates the events that led to its demise, and vividly presents the attractions the place offered. It was most famous for featuring Lilli Saint Cyr, a dancer who often performed topless, which fuelled the indignation of the CMP.

Come and enjoy the play. Let yourself be immersed in the bygone era of the Vaudeville and Burlesque, the music and lyrics of Rick Blue and George Bowser, as well as the performance of a well chosen cast.

Centaur Theatre's play synopses:

Booze, burlesque, and bad guys abound in this sizzling, large scale spectacle as Bowser and Blue put the sin back in ‘Sin City’, bringing Montreal, circa 1951, back to vivid life. Police Chief, Pacifique ‘Pax’ Plante, leads a crusade to eradicate vice by clamping down on gambling, raiding brothels and nightclubs, the Gayety and its shining star, “the best dressed, undressed lady in the theatre”, Lili St. Cyr, in particular. 

Book, Music and Lyrics: Rick Blue and George Bowser
Director: Roy Surette
Musical Director: Chris Barillaro
Choreographer: Jonathan Patterson

Actors: Daniel Brochu, Tamara Brown, Rosie Callaghan, Jonah Carson, Davide Chiazzese, Holly Gauthier-Frankel, Julia Juhas, Frayne McCarthy, Shannon T. McNally, Michel Perron

Musicians: Parker Bert (Percussion), Mike De Masi (Bass), Benjamin Kwong (Piano)
Arrangements and Orchestrations: Chris Barillaro
Associate Musical Director/Show Conductor: Benjamin Kwong
Set and Costume Designer:  Francis Farley

Lighting Designer:  Luc Prairie
Burlesque Consultant:  Holly Gauthier-Frankel
Stage Manager:  Luciana Burcheri

Assistant Stage Manage: Jacynthe Lalonde

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For more information, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

Pillow Talk

Centaur Theatre
March 29 – April 24, 2016

by Dulcinea Langfelder & Co. 
World Première

"WE ARE ALL ARTISTS WHEN WE DREAM"

Pillow Talk is a theatrically performed essay on dreaming and dream imagery. It is build on Dulcinea Langfelder's personal dreams which she registered with a Dictaphone placed under her pillow. Spectators hear the original recordings of the dreams as they watch them being simultaneously enacted by Dulcinea on stage.

Dulcinea Langfelder is a multi-disciplinary artist. In addition to her real dreams narration that explores the surreal landscape in her subconscious mind, she uses animation, video projections, image collages, music, movement and dance. The imagery projected as a backdrop and also on her body is strong, colourful, and expresses well her dreams' narrative.

There is a playful part to her dreams and a number of funny moments. Especially, the portrayal of her obsession with Barak Obama will make the audience laugh. The Obama line goes through the entire play, as a single unifying theme to hold all the other disconnected imagery together. At a certain point it is no longer perceived as being funny as it was at the beginning of the play.

The performance includes the upper body nudity that does not seem to be necessary to express the artistic meaning of the dreams. In fact, it appears somewhat gratuitous. Overall, the play represents a very original concept and gives the spectators an opportunity to ponder on their own dreams and personal dream imagery.

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For more information, visit the Centaur Theatre website.

Dulcinea Langfeld's Pillow Talk Play Trailer

Centaur Theatre 48th Season

Centaur Theatre 2016-2017 Season
Swept Away

Last week, the Centaur theatre unveiled the upcoming program for its 48th Season 2016-2017. Since Centaur allots a metaphor for ieach season (for instance, the present 47th season's metaphor is Luminous), the 48th season will be known as Swept Away. It will present three international hits and three Canadian successes which will transport the audiences to diverse worlds, offering them new ways of seeing things, events, and relationships.
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The upcoming 48th season's program was presented by the Centaur Theatre's Director Roy Surette (on the right, image below), and the Director of Communications Eloi Savoie (on the left).

Below are six unique universes which Centaur theatre will offer to their audiences to explore and experience. Click on the poster images to enlarge them, in order to be able to read not only the names of the plays but also the names of their authors and directors, and the dates they will be performed.

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Visit Centaur Theatre website for more information on the present and future programs, and other activities.

ArtFIFA 2016: Caravage-Caravaggio

Caravage

Film by Jean-Michel Meurice

France | French | 2015 | 52 min

CANADIAN PREMIERE

The film presents the short and tortuous life of the Italian late Renaissance painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, simply known as Caravaggio (Caravage in French). He trained as a painter in Milan under Simone Peterzano who in turn had trained under Titian.

In 1600, in his twenties, Caravaggio moved to Rome, and conquered the Rome’s art scene with his first public commissions, the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Calling of Saint Matthew. After that he never lacked commissions or patrons but handled his success poorly. He often engaging in street brawls, and in 1606 killed a man, most likely unintentionally. After that he escaped to Naples, and later to Malta. But he did not stay long in Malta.  He once again participated in a brawl, and regardless of the great success he had with his commissioned paintings, landed in a prison, from which he managed to escape. His life was not too long after that.

The film describes all the twists and turns of this very talented young artist’s life. It shows many of his painting and gives details of who commissioned them and when. It draws a parallel between the brutal biblical scenes he immortalized in his canvas and his own life path.

Official Synopses:  

"The life of Caravaggio (1571-1610) was brief and violent. After ten years of triumphs in Rome, lucrative commissions from powerful sources, a dangerous attraction to the lowest depths of society, endless quarrels, several imprisonments, a death sentence for murder and a forced exile on the run, this quick-tempered and irascible man died at the age of 39. His oeuvre as we know it today stems from the tireless work of historians. Of the more than 500 canvases attributed to him three centuries after his death, less than fifty were actually his. This film investigates 22 major works in Rome, Malta, Paris, Rouen and Montpellier."

Jean-Michel Meurice

Jean-Michel Meurice is a painter and filmmaker. He is a co-founder of ARTE, which he directed from 1986 to 1989. He is also a producer, author and director of monthly magazines devoted to the plastic arts on French television.

Filmography | Simon Hantaï, les silences rétiniens (1978) ; Pierre Soulages (1981), 1er FIFA ; Bram van Velde (1980), 20e FIFA ; Cory Aquino (1989) ; Solidarnosc (1990) ; Apartheid (1992) ; La parade des saigneurs (1995) ; Familles macabres (1996) ; Un doux rebelle : Julien Green, journal d'un siècle (1997), 17e FIFA ; L'orchestre noir (1998) ; Alechinsky pris sur le vif (2004) ; Velickovic, les apparences de la peur (2005), 24e FIFA ; Le vrai pouvoir du Vatican (2010) ; Algérie, notre histoire (2011).

Production Team:

Cinematography Valentin Caron
Music Gérard Cohen-Tannugi
Narration Philippe Faure, Anna Flori-Lamour
Participation Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, Michel Laclotte, Michel Hilaire
Artists Le Caravage, Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, Michel Laclotte, Michel Hilaire
Producer Fabienne Servan Schreiber, Laurence Miller, Emélie De Jong
Production ARTE France, Cinétévé
Distribution Poorhouse International

For more information and film scheduling, visit the Art FIFA website.

FILM TRAILER

Art FIFA 2016: Chagal

Chagall, peintre de la musique

Chagall, Painter of the Music

Film by Mathilde Deschamps Lotthé

France | French | 2015 | 53 min

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

This film, full of colour and music, is wonderful to watch. It presents life and work of Marc Chagall in a comprehensive and sensitive way. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in virtually every artistic medium, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, costume designs, ceramic, tapestries, and fine art prints. He produced windows for the cathedrals of Reims and Metz, windows for the UN, and the Jerusalem Windows in Israel. He also did large-scale paintings, including part of the ceiling of the Paris Opéra (see the photo above, click to enlarge).

Film shows convincingly how important music was for Chagall, and how music leitmotivs ran throughout his creations. It contains many photographs, several film clippings with Chagall commenting about his art, and many interviews with the art expects and those who preserve his works. His granddaughter also appears in the film.

Chagall's poetic, figurative style made him one of the most popular modern artists. His long life and the variety of his artistic output made him one of the most internationally recognized.

Official Synopses: 

"When we think of the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985), what comes to mind are pairs of lovers in the sky, colourful bouquets and dreamlike representations of transformed reality. What is less known is that Chagall had a a close relationship with music, a passion that came from a childhood steeped in Klezmer music and liturgical psalms. This film shows how this passion was expressed in his work, from his recurring representations of musical instruments to his sets and costumes for opera and ballet." 

Mathilde Deschamps Lotthé

Mathilde Deschamps Lotthé makes human-interest documentaries, specializing over the last decade in subjects relating to heritage and the arts.

Filmography | Passion patrimoine : De l'Auvergne à la Lorraine (2011) et De l'Auvergne à l'Alsace (2012), émission Des Racines et des ailes ; Sur les pas de Mozart (2012) ; Picasso et les photographes (2013).

Production Team:

Screenplay Mathilde Deschamps Lotthé
Cinematography Franck Carimalo, Jennifer Luby
Sound Bruno Diego
Artists Marc Chagall
Production avec la participation de France 5, Eclectic Production
Distribution Eclectic Production

For more information and film scheduling, visit the Art FIFA website.

FILM TRAILER

Art FIFA 2016: DADA

Viva Dada

Film by Régine Abadia

France | French | 2015 | 52 min

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

If you would like to discover the DADA movement or simply learn more about it, this is the film to see. It goes into depth of what it was all about, of its raison d'etre, the artistic issues it addressed, and the social and political realities of the time that provoked its birth and sustained its argumentation.

DADA movement was active for only 7 years, between 1916-1923. Yet it had a serious impact on the arts at large, on the philosophical and social issues it addressed through its nihilism, deconstruction of the standard perceptions, and through making collages and word assemblages that at once negated the reality as it was known, presented the absurdity of what was happening around them, commented on the standard human existence at large, and served as a new aesthetics of how to see the world and make art.  

The film portrays the leaders of the movement, documents the Dada activities which included public gatherings, demonstrations, publication of their manifestos as well as art and literary journals. It also points out that DADA type of thinking still persists and influences contemporary artists.


Official Synopses:

"In 1916, artists from across Europe came together around a pacifist ideal, calling themselves the Dadaists. This international, controversial artistic and literary movement would revolutionize art in the twentieth century. One hundred years later, this film allows the voices of the Dadaists - Tristan Tzara, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Jean Arp and Man Ray - to be heard again, as subversive as ever. It also follows the completion of one of Tzara's major unfinished projects: Dadaglobe, a compendium and a genuine work of art. 

If you want to discover more about the Dadaists and celebrate the centenary of the movement, you can visit the interactive website, digital cabaret, www.dada-data.net."

Régine Abadia

Régine Abadia makes feature films and documentaries, as well as being a scriptwriter and photographer.

Filmography | The Spirit of Gospel (2008) ; Pigalle nuit et jour (2000) ; Dalida, chez nous soyez reine (2002) ; Pourquoi marcher quand on peut rouler ? (2003) ; Berit (2006) ;  Jenny Bel’air (2008) ; Yasmina et Mohammed (2012).

Production Team:

Screenplay Régine Abadia
Cinematography Dominique Colin, Dominique Fausset
Sound Jean-François Mabire, Romain Parrault, Jules Evrard
Editing Vincent Schmitt, Joseph Licidé
Music Margarida Guia
Narration Françoise Cadol
Animation Ricardo Kump
Graphic creation Ricardo Kump
Artists Tristan Tzara, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Jean Arp, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, Hugo Ball
Producer Sophie Parrault
Production Bonne Pioche, Centre Pompidou, ARTE France
Distribution Lucky You

For more information and film scheduling, visit the Art FIFA website.

FILM TRAILER