The Art Souterrain Festival unveils an impressive program for its 14th edition

14th edition of the Art Souterrain Festival takes place from April 2nd to June 30th. Highly anticipated event for the arts and culture community, this great return marks the implementation of more than thirty free mediation and artistic discovery activities.

For more than 6km of underground pedestrian network, the public is given the chance to discover the works of forty local and international artists, selected by the artist and curator Eddy Firmin and by the collective of artists and curators Intervals made up of Caroline Douville, Maria Ezcurra, Miwa Kojima, Romeo Gongora and Dominique Fontaine. Once again, the Festival Art Souterrain demonstrates its incredible ability to create a rich cultural offering for the enjoyment of contemporary art lovers. This year sets the table for forty artists or so, such as Moridja Kitengue Banza, Nadia Myre, David Garneau, Anna Binta Diallo, Carole Condé & Karl Beveridge, Shelby Lisk, My-Van Dam, Maria Ezcurra.

The development of this 14th edition is made possible thanks to the support of many partners. Art Souterrain is proud to count on the support of the government of Quebec:"The Festival Art Souterrain is an artistic event well established in the heart of the metropolis that celebrates the downtown area and demonstrates its great vitality. This is certainly a great opportunity for citizens from all over Quebec to come back to the city to enjoy all the cultural diversity it has to offer."

As well as the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal – exceptional institutions that place great trust in the festival: "In September 2021, we announced eight creative projects selected to bolster the appeal of downtown Montréal. These projects, under the banner ré-CRÉATION MTL, include the Festival Art Souterrain, which is a signature project that is well known to the public. It's back in an expanded format, sending a strong signal to the arts and cultural community, which has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Life is returning to downtown, and we are ready to once again make the area the beating heart of our city," said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.

Unveiling of the program

Declined in three axes: Discover, Learn and Participate, the programming of this 14th edition will allow visitors to live immersive experiences according to their interests. Everyone will be led to reflect with sensitivity on the theme Voies-Voix Résilientes. The public will be offered activities such as:

Discover

• Guided tours by the curators

• Guided tours by public figures from the visual arts community

• Guided tours by curators

• Art mediation activities

• What your eyes [don't] see by Lucia Vergel Loo (performance)

Learn

• Round table: En situation d'itinérance

• Round Table: Accessibility and immigration

• Round table: Art, féminisme et écologie

Participate

• Gender B(l)ender

• Phi Center

• Wapikoni: Awareness workshop

• Wapikoni: Short film screening evening

• Lieu Saint: Interactive Structure

• Screenprinting workshop with Atelier Circulaire

• Opening: (Dé)Masquer / (Un)Masking / (Des)Enmascararse presented by Cultural Institute of Mexico

• Creative workshop presented by Cultural Institute of Mexico: family activities

• I Want My LGBTV (performance)

• Creative workshops with Art for Elderly

• Kain Na de Joliz Dela Pena (performance)

Starting today, the public is invited to book their spots for the programming via the festival website.

The events will kick off on April 2nd at 5pm with the Rituals: Healing Elixirs evening. Taking place in the underground of Montreal, the opening of the festival will set the tone for this 14th edition under the theme Voies-Voix Résilientes. Conceived by curator Caroline Douville, the artists will accompany visitors on a guided tour of the underground route, which will be interspersed with 6 original performances. Details of the launch event can be found here.

www.artsouterrain.com

About Art Souterrain Art Souterrain is a non profit organization which aims to provide a wider accessibility to contemporary art since 2009. With the will to demystify the artistic process and artworks, the organization implements long term initiatives to cultivate an understanding and to create a bound between an artwork and its audience.

To achieve its ends, Art Souterrain is based on a strong model with the main intention of getting artworks out of traditionnel exhibition places. By doing so, the organization wants to surprise everyone in its daily life and to bring a new kind of interaction, governed by questioning and emotion.

Partners

Major partner The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal

Institutional Partners Ville de Montréal Conseil des Arts de Montréal Tourisme Montréal Arrondissement Ville-Marie Gouvernement du Québec Conseil des Arts du Canada Canadien Heritage

Private Partners Montréal centre-ville

Media Partners Revue Esse Vie des arts Magazine Ciel variable Espace art actuel Border Crossing CHOQ.ca

Service Partners Arsenal Montréal Le Comité Paprika Turgeon lettrage Publicité Sauvage Légaré Bières biologiques Boldwin Club Kombucha Atelier Bang Bang DeSerres Musée McCord FIG Clothing

Diffusion partners Complexe Guy Favreau Palais des congrès de Montréal Centre de Commerce Mondial de Montréal Place Victoria Édifice Jacques Parizeau Cité Internationale - OACI

Cultural partners Wapikoni Mobile Atelier Circulaire Centre PHI Kama La Mackerel Atelier fil d'Ariane Institut Culturel du Mexique

SOURCE Art Souterrain

CONTACT: For any media inquiries: info@artsouterrain.com