Event.
From March 18 to April 9, 2023, the Festival Art Souterrain is bringing together nearly thirty local and international artists, as well as events and mediation activities, around the theme of the party (la fête). Photographs, videos, art and sound installations, performances, workshops and round tables will punctuate the corridors of downtown Montreal for the three weeks of the Festival.

The Festival Art Souterrain is celebrating its 15th edition this year and promises a memorable edition for its 15th anniversary!

LA FÊTE (the party)

The party is presented as a space outside of time and established codes. It represents an escape from the reality of everyday life and gathers around the common desire to share a moment out of the ordinary.

Celebration of traditions, fairs, student parties, gatherings in times of pandemic or the world of clubs and nightlife, the party can take many forms.

Our 15th edition intends to cover these different facets of the party through a program that matches the theme of this year!

CURATORS

For this anniversary edition, Art Souterrain has called on three guest curators: Eddy Firmin (Quebec), Ayrson Heráclito (Brazil) and Jean-François Prost (Quebec). Beyond the glitz and glamour, the artistic projects selected by the curators mark a broad reflection, all in nuances and reversals around the theme of the party. If the party is associated with celebration, gathering and traditions, it is also synonymous with excess, prohibitions, testing of the body and refusal of social codes.

ARTISTS

The Festival offers an artistic program in keeping with the event and its international character, welcoming artists living and working in a dozen different countries. The diversity of projects and practices selected by the curators will reveal all the subtlety of the theme addressed this year:

• Ajamu X (United Kingdom)
• André Giesemann et Daniel Schulz (Germany)
• Annie Baillargeon (Canada, Quebec)
• Antonio Pichillá Quiacaín (Guatemala)
• Camille Jodoin-Eng (Canada, Toronto)
• Caó Cruz Alves (Brazil)
• Cao Guimarães et Rivane Neuenschwander (Brazil)
• Catherine Lescarbeau (Canada, Gatineau)
• Chun Hua Catherine Dong (Canada, Montreal)
• David Champagne (Canada, Montreal)
• François Prost (France)
• Gary Stewart (United Kingdom)
• Géraldine Entiope et Eddy Firmin (Canada, Montreal)
• Ican Ramageli (Senegal - France)
• Ieda Oliveira (Brazil)
• Isabel Gouvêa (Brazil)
• Jacqueline van de Geer (Canada, Montreal)
• J. Cunha (Brazil)
• Magali Babin (Canada, Montreal)
• Marco Aurélio Damaceno (Brazil)
• Marie-Christine Le Vey et Pastiche love (Guillaume Plourde) (Canada, Rawdon)
• Martín Rodríguez (Canada, Montreal)
• Mehryl Levisse (Marocco - France)
• Mulambö (Brazil)
• Paradise Garage
• Princesse Victoria Institunia (Antoine Lortie) (Canada, Quebec)
• Robbin Deyo (Canada, Montreal)
• Sébastian Maltais (Canada, Montreal)
• Shirley Stolze (Brazil)
• Steven Smith Simard (Canada, Montreal)
• Tiécoura N'Daou (Mali)
• Vinicius Xavier (Brazil)
  
  

EXHIBITION PLACES

This year, the festival will take place in the underground network of six partner buildings of Montreal Downtown: Place Ville Marie (PVM) - the nerve center of this edition - the Centre de commerce mondiale de Montréal, the Jacques-Parizeau Building, the Palais des Congrès de Montréal, the Place de la Cité Internationale and the 1000 de la g
Gauchetière. Each building will have its own exhibition space.

The Festival is entirely free of charge and invites all audiences to live a true artistic experience in extraordinary places that are part of Montreal's heritage.

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

The 15th edition of the Festival Art Souterrain reveals a free event-based programming accessible to all audiences, which will be divided into two distinct sections:

An experiential section will present a selection of events and performances, always more inclusive, designed to echo the theme of the Festival.

Some key dates of the event program:

LES JEUDIS FESTIFS (Festive Thursdays)
Each Thursday of the Festival will feature festive programming at Place Ville Marie.
Thursday lunches will feature performances in the heart of Le Cathcart restaurant, and in the Art Souterrain headquarters, while Thursday evenings will be reserved for immersive art experiences in the Art Souterrain headquarters speakeasy.

A more educational section will offer a wide range of workshops and mediation activities throughout the three weeks of the exhibition, in line with Art Souterrain's objective of democratizing contemporary art and making it accessible to as many people as possible.

The mediation activities will take the form of :

ROUND TABLES DISCUSSIONS
Each Tuesday, a round table will be held with speakers specializing in contemporary art, on issues related to the theme of this year:

GUIDED TOURS

• guided tours with the curators
• every weekend : exhibition tours with mediators
  
  

Once again this year, Art Souterrain is collaborating with key players on the Montreal cultural scene.

In collaboration with the Festival international du film sur l'art (FIFA), the screening of Open Box Memory by artists Laurence McFalls and Alberto Herskovits will be presented on the exhibition's itinerary during the three weeks of the Festival.

As of today, the public is invited to register for the many activities and events via the Festival website.