This 14th edition of the Phénomena Festival, which is also the last one directed by founder D. Kimm, promises to be particularly rich and diverse. After 24 years at the helm of Les Filles électriques, which she founded in 2001, the Festival Voix d’Amériques, which she directed from 2003 to 2011, and the Phénomena Festival, which she has directed since 2012, D. Kimm will be stepping down to make way for the new director, Gaétan Paré. There will be excitement and emotion in the air!
It must be said that the Phénomena Festival has won the hearts of the public in recent years. Last April, Phénomena was honoured with the 39th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal for its uniqueness, eclecticism, and festive and irreverent spirit.
Let’s start with TRANSFIGURATION by visual artist Olivier de Sagazan, presented at Usine C. Unfortunately, tickets sold out in just a few days in the spring and it’s now fully booked, proving D. Kimm’s flair for introducing Montreal audiences to this unique artist in 2016. But there are several other shows that are just as intense and intriguing in this rich edition, and curious audiences will be spoiled for choice.
The festival headquarters is still La Sala Rossa and its little sister La Sotterenea. There will be a series of cabarets and daring, explosive shows celebrating diversity in all its nuances, whether in terms of gender identity, origin, or artistic practices.
The highly popular returns for a fourth edition with flamboyant guests with inspiring backgrounds—and sharp tongues—including Rose-Aimée Automne T. Morin, Nicole Brossard, Karla Etienne, Louise Harel, Émilie Monnet, Tatiana Zinga Botao and Pascale Montpetit, as well as host Pénélope Jolicoeur.
Two other cabarets will feature daring, interdisciplinary, and oh-so-undisciplined artists. Mathieu Hérard presents a veritable AstroQueer Gala with red carpet and glamour; the audience is invited to dress accordingly, so get out your sequins! And we will be reunited with two Phénomena regulars, Éliane Bonin and Nathalie Claude, who will be hosting a completely crazy Cabaret DADA in the flesh. This will be the very last show of this latest edition under the artistic direction of D. Kimm, and the evening will end with music from DJ and interdisciplinary artist Julie Delorme. Come and party with us!
Poetry will be in the spotlight with a Magifique-Magificient surrealist cabaret orchestrated by Carl Bessette, poet and co-founder of Éditions de l’Écrou. The event will feature the powerful voices of contemporary poetry, including Marjolaine Beauchamp, Virginie Beauregard D., Maya Cousineau Mollen, and Catherine Lalonde. The festival reconnects with the sharp-witted author Mathieu Arsenault, who presents Les Entrailles ouvertes, a disturbing but humorous dive into the foundations of collective identity, accompanied by musician Géraldine and poet Maude Veilleux.
This year, several extraordinary musical offerings are on the menu, including the highly eclectic Socalled and his band, performing in the warm intimacy of La Sala Rossa. Come discover the musical universe of internationally renowned artist Vivek Shraya, winner of several awards and whose best-selling book I’m Afraid of Men was described as “cultural fuel” by Vanity Fair, at La Chapelle Scènes contemporaines. Other unique voices to discover include those of First Nations songwriters Sandrine Masse (Wendat and Quebecois) and Shauit (Innu from the North Shore). You can even catch a raw and disturbing rock show with two flamboyant bands: Saints Martyrs and BRUE.
Phénomena has always been a platform for emerging and atypical artists, and we continue our mission to showcase the powerful voices of a new generation that seeks to diversify and challenge artistic practices.
For the past three years, we have been following the career of dancer and choreographer Athéna Lucie Assamba, who has made a name for herself in particular at the waacking evenings we have presented. We offered her an evening at La Sala Rossa to present her project of the African village and the urban club in an Afrofuturist vision. We are also presenting a double bill KUL NNAM, which superimposes the worlds featuring the young collectives NU.E.S and BOUCANE for an evening of radical, anti-patriarchal performance, a call for the democratization of eroticism from an inclusive, feminist, and queer perspective.
Finally, Phénomena continues its commitment to the deaf community, which began in 2019, by presenting several events for and by this community, including an evening of deaf performances presented by Véro Leduc at the Espace Bleu de l’Agora de la danse, a family show of storytelling in LSQ organized by Marie- Pierre Petit, and a program of films by deaf directors curated by Émilie Peltier and presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise.
And once again this year, as a gift from Festival founder D. Kimm, all shows are offered at very affordable prices.
Programming and ticketing: festivalphenomena.com
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