PLEASE NOTE: AS OF JUNE 30, 2012,

ENGRENAGE NOIR / LEVIER WILL BE PERMANENTLY CLOSED

History

Since 2002, Engrenage Noir / LEVIER has supported Community Art and Humanist Activism projects in response to proposals from individuals and groups dealing with a wide array of concerns. LEVIER’s desire to nurture the conditions within which individuals could bring significant change to their own lives will continue to guide the new initiative. Added to this is the will to implicate a greater socio-cultural, economic, and political intentionality related to just and sustainable resource sharing and peaceful coexistence.

Launched in 2008, LEVIER’s new initiative is called IN OUR LIFETIME.

IN OUR LIFETIME is intended to focus entirely on the issue of poverty. This new initiative is meant to stimulate dialogue about healthy interdependence and encourage artistic creation that addresses the systemic causes of poverty while affirming the diversity of ecosystems, human rights, and ethical responsibility.

Even if LEVIER no longer accepts applications for financial aid as we have in the past, community groups and artists whose work addresses the concerns of IN OUR LIFETIME are invited to get in touch with us.

Here is a brief Engrenage Noir / LEVIER PROJECT LISTING:

Bibliothèque Sédentaire

LEVIER’s Bibliothèque Nomade has found a home! Instead of circulating our books, we invite you to consult the many references available (see list on the Resources page).

Our interest is to keep the library growing! Your suggestions for new purchases are vital.

Agir par l’imAGinaIRe

The Société Elizabeth Fry du Québec and Engrenage Noir / LEVIER have been coordinating, from 2008 to 2010, a pilot project to be carried out in a spirit of collaboration between non-incarcerated artists and women caught up in the criminal justice system who may or may not also have artistic experience.  Workshops in the following media will be held over a two-year period in four Montreal-area institutions (Joliette Institution, Maison Tanguay, Philippe-Pinel Institute, and the halfway house Maison Thérèse-Casgrain): photography, video, self-portraiture, sound, spoken work, voice/song, dance and performance art.

AGIR exhibition, an exhibition of the work (that results from these workshops) and an associated round-table event, are planning in the exhibition and arts production centre EasternBloc, from May 26 to June 16, 2011. The entire project will be documented using video and still photography as part of our efforts to deconstruct the prejudices commonly held in our society about poverty as we work individually and collectively toward prison abolition.

In addition to funding from Engrenage Noir / LEVIER and the Société Elizabeth Fry du Québec, this project is supported by the Status of Women Canada, the Inter-Arts Office of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ville de Montreal and the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine du Québec, Fondation of Greater Montreal, Fondation Rêve d’Esther, Fondation Solstice, Fondation Rêve d’Esther.

Art Entr’Elles

Since October 2009, LEVIER, in collaboration with the Elizabeth Fry Society of Quebec, has supported a program connecting criminalized women and professional artists who have already worked in the carceral milieu. This initiative has become Art’Entr’Elles, a collective of women artists who say NO to violence, poverty and intolerance.

Long term, the collective hopes to become autonomous and receive regular financial support to become an artistic non-profit organization that will employ women who have had problems with the criminal justice system. In this way, the collective have created the project, “Give a second chance”.

To learn more, please click on the Art’Entre’Elles category of our blog.

Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy

NETWORK

Engrenage Noir / LEVIER is a founding member of the ART · CULTURE Committee of the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy NETWORK. The vision of this NETWORK is to improve the quality of life of Aboriginal people who live in the greater Montreal area.

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