eclectik 2013

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
ECLECTIK 2013
Tribuna
May 31 & June 1st 2013
Montreal, May 16, 2013 — Unfolding under the
sign of the tribuna, the 6th edition of ECLECTIK
walks hand in hand with the “socially committed”
stance of the MAI’s 14th season. Tribuna invites
some thirty “artist/citizens” to don the hat of
spokesperson for causes dear to their hearts, and
to alight the stage with passion and vigour.
Installation and video artists, slammers, poets,
dancers, actors, composers and musicians unite in
this “mani-festive” cabaret. Whether through a
rant, impassioned plea or political act, this
interdisciplinary soap box gives voice to the art of
conscience. And as bonus, four short films
produced through the Scottish Documentary
Institute in collaboration with the British Council
are being screened for the first time in North
America as part of this annual multidisciplinary
event. Audiences will be treated to nine brand
new creations including Geeta’s The Bandit
Queen, The Aristocrat by Julio Hong and La
terre nous est étroite by Hinda Essadiqi.
© Emily Gan
TRIBUNA
Def. A raised platform or dais from which Greek and
Roman orators lectured the people.
TRIBUNA_cinema
Four short films made in film workshops in Palestine and Libya will premiere at the MAI. Check-Point Boy —
Ramallah Stories (2013) by Shireen Abu Hamda recounts the everyday lives of Palestinian boys who have to sell
bric-a-brac at military checkpoints to help their families make ends meet.
Tripoli Stories (2012), a trilogy whose topic is the Libyan revolution, takes an incisive look at the Arab Spring and
its uncertain consequences. In THE SECRET ROOM, Ibrahim Y. Shebani tells the story of the security guard at
the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli who risked his life to protect the country’s precious artefacts and works of
art. GRAFFITI (2012), by Anas El Gomati and Ibrahim El Mayet, reveals the long-suppressed emotions now
expressed as graffiti on building walls. GRANNY’S FLAGS (2012), by Naziha Arebi, shows the human face of
the revolution, that of a mother and her eight children, as it yearns for freedom.
Finally, ECLECTIK will premiere La terre nous est étroite (2013), a dance video by Hinda Essadiqi. Inspired by
the poem “Earth Presses against Us” by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, this video is a short poem in
movement, a suspended moment when one person’s body joins another person’s thoughts and the music of the
voice echoes the voice of a distant people.
TRIBUNA_music
The Bandit Queen (2013) by Geeta takes up injustice and violence towards women, and more specifically the
loathsome rapes that have recently taken place in India. Accompanied by the multi-instrumentalist François
Girouard, the poet and author-composer-singer Geeta invites us into her surreal world, a singular place of
metamorphosis in which madness, dreams and rebellion are interwoven.
The author-composer-singer Emmanuel-Ricardo Lamour-Blaise, known as Emrical, has made his mark with his
autobiographical stories and social Polaroids. Using slam-like prose, Emrical sings with an urgent need to take
action. Accompanied on stage by four musicians — Jean-Daniel Thibeault-Desbiens, Malika Tirolien, Vincent
Stephen-Ong and Jonathan Lorgis — Emrical sings Combien de morts (2012), a song about the tragic
Villanueva affair, and I Free Ka (2013), about the children of the African diaspora.
Wesli will perform a solo excerpt from his second album, Liberté dans le noir (2013), a particularly explosive
mixture of Haitian roots music spiced up with reggae, ska, afrobeat, funk, soul and hip-hop. Wesliband’s Liberté
dans le noir (Wes Urban Productions) has been described as one of the “five best world beat albums of 2011 in
Quebec”. Up-Rising!
« (…) l’irrésistible Wesley Louissaint, ce troubadour-né dont la machine à groove surchauffe avec naturel l’afrobeat, le
reggae, le rock et le rara d’Haïti dans la même grosse étuve épicée. »
Ralph Boncy, VOIR
TRIBUNA_installation + spoken word + performance
Le mur des indignations (2013) is a wall on which members of the public are invited to write down what makes
them mad about the world in which we live, to write down their current indignation(s). Here, the multidisciplinary
artist Soufia Bensaïd proclaims the sovereign right to dignity. Bensaïd’s artistic practice joins visual art,
performance and movement.
Kym Dominique-Ferguson
The poet and slam artist Kym Dominique-Ferguson, armed with his HOW DARE YOU SPEAK/10 THINGS I
HATE ABOUT YOU (2011), shoots down racism with a loud slap in all sincerity. The artistic director of
Madpoetix Productions, filmmaker and pamphleteer Dominique-Ferguson denounces intimidation with a violent
passion.
‘‘Ferguson’s most powerful and poignant pieces were not his erotic work, but were based on his political stance on racism
and his changing perceptions after coming to Canada from a non-racialised society in Jamaica. In particular, ‘Black
People Mentality,’ ‘Nigger’ and ‘How Dare You Speak’ have rocked people of diverse ethnic origins.’’
BLACK CANADIAN POETRY
The Métis spoken word poet Moe Clark invites us to her Zan – Squaw (2013). Enveloped in projected
photographs — the faces of women in Iran and Kurdistan — by Shahrazad Arshadi, an artist-activist of Iranian
descent, Clark celebrates the spirit of the ancestors. Accompanying the projected photographs is an unusual sound
environment: captivating Persian oratory and Inuit throat singing.
Geeta
TRIBUNA_theatre
A virulent diatribe on the frightful reality of children working in the mines of Kinshasa, UMVUAYI (2010) is a
true cry from the heart by Kens Mukendi Kakona. For this excerpt, the actor of Congolese descent is
accompanied on stage by five multidisciplinary performers: Antonio Bavaro, Farah Fancy, Rio Mitchell,
Padingani Wa Padingani Junior and Emilee Valuz. An original idea by Rachael Van Fossen of The
Encounters Project Ensemble.
« Marche comme une Égyptienne, Mireille Tawfik explore avec émotion et intelligence, le typique choc de valeurs
opposant première génération d'immigrants moyens-orientaux à leurs occidentalisés enfants nés ici. »
LE QUATRIÈME
With Une chance qu’on a Richard! (2013), audiences will participate in the Tribuna creative process. Camped
out in a fictional forest, a symbolic site of reflection, the alter egos of the actress Mireille Tawfik and the
choreographer Emmanuelle Calvé become agitated, fret and rebel.
TRIBUNA_dance
To counter the vicissitudes of human life, with its racism and religious persecution, the Indian choreographer and
virtuoso dancer Amrita Choudhury will perform as an offering an excerpt of The Bridges of Hope (2009), a
courageous and compassionate work of salvation.
With his new solo piece The Aristocrat (2013), the chorographer and dancer Julio Hong delivers a warning about
the loss of identity. Hong extends his aesthetic explorations which seek to join classical and contemporary dance
with an Afro-Cuban flavour.
BOW’T (2013, excerpt) pays tribute to those who have left their homeland. Accompanied by the seasoned
percussionist Daniel Bellegarde, the choreographer and dancer Rhodnie Désir connects with the journey of her
Haitian ancestors through contemporary African dance.
PROGRAMMATION ECLECTIK 2013
CINEMA
Check-Point Boy — Ramallah Stories_Shireen Abu Hamda
PREMIERE
THE SECRET ROOM — Tripoli Stories_Ibrahim Y. Shebani
PREMIERE
GRAFFITI — Tripoli Stories, Anas El GomatiIbrahim_El Mayet
PREMIERE
GRANNY’S FLAGS — Tripoli Stories_Naziha Arebi
PREMIERE
VIDEO
La terre nous est étroite_Hinda Essadiqi
PREMIERE
MUSIC
The bandit queen_Geeta
PREMIERE
Combien de morts + I free Ka_ EMRICAL
Liberté dans le noir_Wesli
INSTALLATION
Le mur des indignations_Soufia Bensaïd
SPOKEN WORD - PERFORMANCE
HOW DARE YOU SPEAK / 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU_Kym Dominique-Ferguson
Zan - Squaw_Moe Clark + Shahrzad Arshadi
PREMIERE
THEATRE
UMVUAYI _The Encounters Project Ensemble
Une chance qu'on a Richard !_ Mireille Tawfik + Emmanuelle Calvé
PREMIERE
DANCE
The Bridges of Hope (Les ponts de l’espoir)_Amrita Choudhury
The Aristocrat_Julio Hong
PREMIERE
BOW’T_Rhodnie Désir
Check-Point Boy — Ramallah Stories. Shireen Abu Hamda
ECLECTIK 2013
Friday May 31 & Saturday June 1st – 8 pm
Box Officie: 514 982-3386
Generale Admission: $ 15
http://www.m-a-i.qc.ca/
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