Ville: Montreal

marven clerveau

Marven Clerveau is a self-taught multidisciplinary visual artist who began to gain the acclaim of a wider audience in 2014. As a young child, he would draw pictures inspired by TV cartoons and Picasso. He has participated in numerous projects and exhibitions, and won several prizes for his art.

His work with the Association de Montréal pour la déficience intellectuelle (AMDI), membership in the organization Diversité Artistique Montréal (DAM), participation in the project Tandem créatif with Exeko, and current involvement in the Gang à Rambrou have all allowed him to develop his techniques, and expand his renown.

Marven loves exploring and mixing different styles and mediums. Most recently, his focus has been on figurativism and work which incorporates newspaper into acrylic paintings.

michael martini

© connie tsang

Michael Martini is a queer playwright and performer who uses techniques of theatre to create performances for various contexts, from the theatre to the gallery to the cabaret. He has presented several projects in Montreal and Toronto since obtaining a BFA in Playwriting from Concordia University in 2017, often collaborating with artists from other disciplines.

Notably, his co-creation Ça a l’air synthétique bonjour hi has appeared at festivals Summerworks and OFFTA, where it won the OFFTA Hybridity Award. He has also presented works at Rhubarb Festival, RIPA, Phénomena, Xpace Cultural Centre, and he was nominated as Outstanding Emerging Artist by the Montreal English Theatre Awards in 2018. His performances shift between the banal and the eccentric, layering text installation with video, theatrical lecture, make-believe, dry humour, and pop.

He is currently at work on bringing to life a full-length performance text entitled Landscape Grindr, reflecting on nature, gender, and violence. Drawing parallels between #metoo and environmental justice as the writer questions his own gender and sexuality, the text proposes an immersive play where video, sound, and performance are on equal footing.

ariana pirela sánchez

Ariana Pirela Sánchez is a choreographer and dancer who holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication with a Major in Audiovisual Arts from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. She began her dance training at Escuela Taller de Danza in Caracas, Venezuela, and then pursued her professional training at the Quebec Dance School. Based in Canada since 2011, she works as a performer, choreographer, researcher and dance teacher, in addition to collaborating as a cultural journalist and dance critic. She has participated in many residency programs, including RURART (2018 – Cookshire-Eaton) and Center Q (2015, 2016, Quyon) where she studied with Tedd Robinson to deepen her choreographic work.

Recipient of two Première Ovation grants, two L’OJIQ grants and one CAMP-iN grant, she also presented her choreographic work in Montreal at the Festival Vue sur La Relève, Cuisine Ta Ville and Phénomena Festival; in Mexico at the CAMP-iN Festival; in Toronto at the New Blue Dance Festival; in Sherbrooke at RURART; and in Quebec at the Symbiose Festival. Ariana has also participated in various workshops in Québec, Montréal, Los Angeles, Mexico and in Spain. Her artistic process is imbued with a constant inner quest. She is interested in the mixture of forms to create a dialogue between small and physical gestures, dance, music and theater.

anahita norouzi

Anahita Norouzi (born in Tehran in 1983) is originally from Iran and lives in Montreal. Her interdisciplinary practice spans from spatial installations to sculpture, photo, and video-based works. She holds degrees in Fine Arts and French Literature from Concordia University in Montreal. 

For the past ten years, she has traveled often between Iran and Canada to conduct her research and pursue her work, which investigates the condition of displacement in relation to notions such as memory, migration and identity. She actively questions the dichotomous conditions provoked by her particular perspective – as an Iranian citizen and distant observer, from Canada, of her culture of origin.

Anahita Norouzi has taken part in several individual and collective exhibitions internationally. Most recently she has had shows in Canada, Germany and Iran. She was a finalist for the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize for pieces shown at the Royal College of Art in London and in Dubai. She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and is currently working on a show that will be presented in 2021.