Here is the first of three accounts of the « post-lauch» activities offered by LEVIER, Following the release of its publication Affirming Collaboration: Community and Humanist Activist Art in Québec and Elsewhere

Photos : Nafissa Virama

TRAVEL TO THE BERLIN HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL

Participatory performance with Petra Kuppers and Neil Marcus

September 9, 2011, at à Circuit Est centre chorégraphique

by Melissa Mollen Dupuis, with the collaboration of Amélie Girard

The workshop-performance in which we participated on Friday, September 9, 2011 was taken from an experience of exclusion that Petra Kuppers and Neil Marcus experienced during a visit to the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Incredible, but true, this place is inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. A legal challenge was made to change this injustice but it was in vain – the complainants lost their case. The creation of this performance was for Petra and Neil a way of seeing the memorial – a replica that was not created to celebrate the dead as was the original but rather to celebrate life.

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Following the release of its publication at the end of June,

AFFIRMING COLLABORATION: Community and Humanist Activist Art in Québec and Elsewhere

Engrenage Noir / LEVIER continues the celebrations by offering a series of three exciting workshops linked to the content of its publication, facilitated by people who have collaborated with LEVIER throughout the years.

These workshops are offered free of charge, but space is limited.

Please register for the workshop(s) of your choice

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I created ‘Couvert sur Place’ in March 2009, as an ‘adaptable concept’, to be performed in the environment. It was then proposed to LEVIER, to be part of the activities organized by the Collective for a Poverty-free Quebec. The adaptation became ‘Couvert sur Place - Parc de l’Esplanade’, and was performed collectively with 20 participants, on May 14th, 2009, in front of the Quebec Parliament Building. The performance began after the delivery of the petition of 98,727 signatures, which focused on several different measures to ensure that the essential needs of people living in poverty are met. In keeping with the spirit of the petition, “Couvert sur Place - Parc de l’Esplanade” highlighted the importance of our relationship to the environment, biodiversity and food security intrinsically linked to essential needs. Connecting soil, seeds and plants to food, biodiversity and place, ‘Couvert sur Place - Parc de l’Esplanade’, as an interdisciplinary artwork, represents the ‘interconnected-self’ and brings together the histories of Biodiversity (1), the Collective’s mission and the experience of my art practice.

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An extraordinary evening! 450 tickets sold! 325 people present! And our target exceeded!

In late June, the Freedom Flotilla II will set sail, carrying humanitarian aid for the population living in the Gaza Strip. In addition to delivering medicines, school supplies and food, the Canadian Boat to Gaza will attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza for the past 4 years.

Engrenage Noir / LEVIER worked with the Canadian Boat to Gaza to bring art to the heart of our solidarity with the people of Gaza through the sculpture of a boat, the making of a collective banner, postal art and performances.

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Aiming to explore new perspectives about our society’s reliance on incarceration while stressing the importance of critical reflection about possible alternatives to imprisonment.

Thursday- June 16, 2011

7:00 to 10 :00 PM

Eastern Bloc Gallery

7240 Clark, 2nd floor

!!!Warning: the exhibition is ending on Thursday June 16, 2011 at 6:45pm!!!

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In its actions as well as its associations, the Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES) gives a special place to art and creativity. Ending sexual exploitation is at the heart of the message of the CLES and the expression of this mission in an original and creative way is important to the CLES. This is why Marie, a survivor of the sex trade and staff member of the CLES presented the slam “J’ai pas choisi!” (I Didn’t Choose - see video), during the “Tribunal populaire” on commercial sexual exploitation created by the CLES from March 18th - 20th, 2001 at the Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM).

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In order to meet its objectives concerning the fight against poverty, LEVIER has been trying to bring Ingoma Nshya - Feminine Initiatives to Quebec since 2008. It is now official. This group of Rwandan female percussionists will be in Montreal in May 2012. They will spend two weeks in Montreal (April 30th - May 15, 2010) and present the fruit of a unique collaboration with the group Odaya. By sharing their talent, knowledge and experience, they will attempt to confront the systemic causes of poverty through artistic creation as well as establish sincere, long-lasting, inspiring intercultural meetings.

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Launch publication at Quebec city -

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

at Bar L’Agitée, 251 Dorchester street

5:00 to 7:00 pm

For more information about this publication, please see PUBLICATION page.

Sorry, only the french version is available …