In today’s highly charged political, economic, corporate and environmental climate, it is natural that there exist a variety of viewpoints on the world and its future. Quebec is a national cradle of revolutionary thought, especially in art (think of the Refus Global!), so it’s no surprise that every year, Montreal houses the largest anarchist event in North America: the Festival of Anarchy, which includes the renowned Anarchist Book Fair. The volunteer founding committee of Art + Anarchy Montreal was created in an effort to expand the presence of socially and politically engaged artwork within the Festival of Anarchy and the city, and to develop a yearly artistic event that would promote and encourage creators who crave change, propose fresh perspectives and tackle issues in their art. These issues run the gamut: gender equality, cultural policy, world politics, environmental strategies, basic human rights. The first Art + Anarchy Montreal exhibition took place in a gargantuan loft in Park Extension for two weeks in May 2007, and presented the art of 230 local and international artists. Galvanized by its success, a new committee was formed to organize the 2008 edition, titled Dissident Art. Our space is different this year – smaller and more central, located a few steps away from Notre-Dame Cathedral in Old Montreal – but representative of our basic belief that to remain as independent as possible from systemic assumptions, one must be located, physically, outside the system; in this case Montreal’s existing gallery network. Our artist selection is a fraction of last year’s, quantatively speaking, but perhaps more poignant qualitatively as well. The 15 artists we’ve invited hail from the four corners of the globe and span the breadth of the ideological spectrum. Essential to the exhibition is also the free wall, a section of the exhibition where unsolicited artists from near and far are invited to post their political art for the duration of the exhibition. For the entire month of September, from the 5th to the 28th, we wish to transform 55 Notre-Dame West (an ex-currency exchange office) into a place of inspiration thanks to incredible art and weekly activities, covering everything from puppetry for public protest to the legal ramifications of graffiti, activist documentary making and the art of radical postering. Help us fill a void with this groundbreaking exhibition by giving activist artists a space to be seen and heard. Isa Tousignant |
