This event is part of our public + programming
As part of the performance Entre-Deux by dancer Meihan Carrier-Brisson, choreographed by Claudia Chan Tak and with artistic consultation by Dédé Chen, MAI invites you to a roundtable on international adoption and its resonances in artistic creation. It will bring into dialogue the lived experiences of artists adopted internationally and their artistic practices.
Moderated by kimura byol lemoine, Soraïda Caron, Dédé Chen, and Phara Thibault will share their creative experiences across territories and in isolation.
They will open up reflections on international adoption and its colonial legacies, mental health, questions of belonging, and the ways their work is received.
This conversation will be held in French + LSQ.
Wellness support will be available throughout the evening.
Free entry, no reservation required.
→ Schedule :
Doors – 5pm
Round-table discussion – 6pm
Networking – 7:30pm-8:00pm
ABOUT+
Established in Trois-Pistoles, Soraïda Caron is a choreographer and dancer. She holds a degree in contemporary dance from Université du Québec à Montréal. In her practice, she seeks to bring forth new representations of the body by confronting it with other elements, whether extravagant costumes, accessories, sculptures, or video imagery. The creation of a hybrid body fascinates her. Her works have been presented in festivals, performance venues, and museums across Québec, as well as in France and Germany. In 2022, she received the Artiste de l’année au Bas-Saint-Laurent award from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for her body of work. In 2025, she turned to autofiction and created her first solo work, Les Petits désordres, which explores her international adoption.
Based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Dédé Chen is a writer and filmmaker whose work explores the performance of kinship. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from Université de Pékin and another in literary studies from Université du Québec à Montréal. Her artistic practice engages with sexual violence, the body as territory, and the archive. She co-edited Les Asiatitudes (2024), the first Francophone anthology of authors from Asian diasporas in Québec. Her first short film, Papaya (2022), premiered at the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival and received the Coup de coeur award at Festival Accès Asie, an honourable mention at Festival Filministes, and at Vancouver Festival of Recorded Movement. In 2021, she co-founded Soft Gong, the first Francophone organization by and for adoptees from China.
Phara Thibault is an emerging actor and writer, currently in residence at Centre du Théâtre d’aujourd’hui. Trained in acting at École professionnelle de théâtre du Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, she stands out for her poetic voice and social engagement. Questions of identity have long shaped her work. Her first play, Chokola, produced by the theatre company La Manufacture, received the national Égrégore award as well as a major grant from Fondation Cole. Chokola was also nominated for the Prix Michel Tremblay in 2023. On screen, she has appeared in Plan B, District 31, Toute la vie, P.A.M., L’île Kilucru, IXE-13, Projet innocence, Antigang, Gâtée pourrie, Bellefleur, and Le gouffre Lumineux. In 2025, she published her first poetry collection, Noire Fourmi.
kimura byol lemoine is a multidisciplinary artist and activist, co-founder of Euro-Korean League (1991, Belgium / 1994, South Korea), as well as several artist groups (KameleonZ, KimLeePark, OKAY-Books, Orientity). They also initiated ACA (archives culturelles des adopté·es, 2015), where they archive the history of adoptees through culture (media and the arts), and FKRG (archives médiatiques/recherches francophones sur l’adoption sud-coréenne, 2024).