plateaux : voyage du rio de la plata à l’altiplano, frontières d’amérique latine

© Andrés Salas

Voyage from Rio de la Plata to The Altiplano… is an invitation to discover contemporary music from Argentina and Bolivia, offering a repertoire rooted in the history of these two South American countries, which have been shaped by dictatorships and rich indigenous traditions. This musical journey is performed by three instrumentalists – the Wapiti ensemble (Geneviève Liboiron on violin, and Daniel Áñez Garcia on piano) and Émilie Girard‐Charest (cello) – with Andrés Salas’s video installations lighting up the ambulatory experience.

Wapiti’s work has been presented, notably, at the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico and, in Montréal, at the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec’s Montreal/New Musics Festival.

older & reckless - eclectik 2018

Pythia, solo de Jacqueline Van de Geer (Edgy Redux, 2015) © Valerie Sangin

Eclectik 2018 brings to a head MAI’s four year focus on the older artist and which draws inspiration from Older & Reckless, an acclaimed dance series of mature dance produced by Toronto’s MOonhORsE Dance Theatre. Âgés et déjantés featuring artists 55 years old and older of cultural and racial diversity, advocates for an increased awareness of the challenges faced by older artists. It addresses the language currently used to discuss old age and generational relevancy and/or redundancy as it relates to art, to life.

At the very centre of this initiative is, to borrow a term, lastingness, a means of resistance, of maintaining or regaining visibility. Of celebration.

tu ne te retourneras pas

Sous le nom de scène de Hazy Montagne Mystique, Chittakone Baccam livre des performances surprenantes et plonge l’auditeur dans des ambiances lunaires, méditatives et bruitistes. Avec Tu ne te retourneras pas, l’artiste sonore explore ses racines laotiennes et la pratique expérimentale qu’il a développée au Québec. À la faveur de distorsions, transformations et échantillonnages, la performance audiovisuelle puise dans les archives familiales : cassettes enregistrées par ses grands-parents et compilations de musique molam traditionnelle. Tu ne te retourneras pas,évoque les souvenirs du pays laissé derrière soi, dont les images finissent inévitablement par se brouiller au fil du temps.

Cofondateur de l’étiquette Jeunesse cosmique Baccam est très actif sur la scène musicale expérimentale avec plus d’une centaine de productions.

own your voice

Madame Gandhi © Wendy Figueroa
Madame Gandhi © Wendy Figueroa

Kiran Gandhi, who performs as Madame Gandhi, is an electronic musician and activist based in Los Angeles. Having gained recognition as the former drummer for M.I.A., Thievery Corporation and Kehlani as well as the viral free-bleeding runner at the 2015 London Marathon, Madame Gandhi now produces music that elevates and celebrates the female voice.

Madame Gandhi’s song “The Future is Female” climbed to #8 on the Viral US Top 50 Spotify Charts following the 2017 Women’s March and her EP, Voices, has received critical acclaim from outlets like FADERPaper Mag, and Milk. She is currently working on her debut album.

wàsakozi

Mich Cota. © Jordan Minkoff
Mich Cota. © Jordan Minkoff

In Algonquin, Wàsakozi (pronounced “wah-suh-koh-sheh”) means “lustre,” a reflection of light. Mich Cota’s Wàsakozi takes the shape of an opera and follows the life of Odjìshìngwe – an ungendered being born of light and darkness – from birth to death, and through rebirth. The piece invites dialogue, complicates issues of identity, and foregrounds Indigenous self-determination as well as the importance of queer and trans visibility.

Mich Cota is a Two-Spirit Algonquin-mixed woman working across community lines and disciplines. Her work is focused on celebrating queerness, trans visibility, and the spectrum of Indigeneity. Cota recently won an award for most significant musical work in an alternative format at the Indigenous Voices Awards 2018.