For immediate release
Festival Accès Asie's 13th Edition
Montreal, April 3rd, 2008 -
It is with renewed enthusiasm that Festival Accès Asie and its partners ( Mile-End Library, OBORO, MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), NFB Theater and Tangente) eagerly unveil this year’s program in its 13th edition. From May 1st to 24th, Montrealers are invited to participate in a number of activities celebrating Asian Heritage Month. The Festival’s program theme <
Opening With Illustrious Melodies [MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE]
Festival Accès Asie kicks off Montreal’s Asian Heritage Festival May 1st with the world premier of an interdisciplinary performance, Éclats Nocturnes. Following a cocktail party to reunite all friends, partners, collaborators and spectators, this original event that connects several artists in an exceptional piece on the theme of meditation is realized in collaboration with the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels). Inspired by the paintings of Khosro Berahmandi, instrumentalists Ziya Tabassian (percussion), Shuni Tsou (bamboo flute), Nicolas Caloia (double-bass) compose a multi-layered melody joined by filmmaker Shahin Pahami and dance choreographer Geneviève La. This unconventional quintet is a symphony of sounds and images that fuse arts and culture. Together, the six artists offer a unique performance that explores the particularities of their instruments and the richness of their respective cultures in order to merge tradition with innovation, music with painting, moving images and bodies with melodious lines, all within a multi-media setting.
Feminine Perspectives on Paintings and the Orient [EXHIBITION}
In order to better familiarize you with Quebecois artists originating from Central Asia and the Middle East, Festival Accès Asie organizes from May 5th to 18th in collaboration with the Mile-End Library, the exhibition ‘Trois pinceaux d’Orient that reunites three female painters from the Orient. Originally from Turkey, Iran and Syria, artists Pelin Yazar Cañez, Nazanin Afshar and Khadija Chekh Baker offer visitors the opportunity to discover their outlook on contemporary societies. These three women artists from three different countries have in common the same source of inspiration from which flows the fertile rivers and crescents in the Orient, the veritable cradle and history of the arts and humanity. The works of Khadija Baker’s style reflect her journey pursuing several inspirational lineages that depart from the grand masters of modern occidental paintings to religious icons, oriental colors and abstract approaches. On a more personal journey, Nazanin Afshar is interested in the contemporary stories of women with works that express the daily constraints that are imposed upon women. Her approach favors introspection with colors and forms that expose the experienced internalized pain. Finally, the works of Pelin Yazar Cañez show the surrounding world in a radiant abundance of light. Her style is clearly influenced by color and motifs from impressionistic paintings and reveals luminous landscapes that are marked by contrasts of brightness.
Two Dancers Crossing [DANCE]
With the convergence of Vancouver, Montreal and two styles of choreography, Connection and L’heure bleue is presented in conjunction with Tangente from May 9th to 11th. Merging the choreographs and interpretations of Jung-Ah Chung and Geneviève La, this performance is a unique occasion to witness a Korean graciousness and Vietnamese elegance in a revealing meeting based on the force of spirituality. Jung-Ah Chung’s piece is immersed in the liberating process that moves beyond limits and connects with supernatural forces. Her work reflects the image of a Shaman whose meditation travels from the natural to the supernatural worlds. Geveviève La’s work is inspired by the rites of passage. She invites us in a voyage that carries innocence to unknown lands where dreams and reality meet. We are a witness to her expressions of existential themes and how she unites vulnerability and force.
Questioning Stereotypes in a Game of Space and Time [MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION]
Festival Accès Asie is proud to collaborate once again with the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) during Asian Heritage Month from May 15 to June 18 in the presentation of Iranian artist Fariba Samsani's Reframing/Interactive Translocation. This interactive multimedia presentation in two stages prompts you to question your perception of Iranians and forces you to situate your beliefs. It is an audaciously artistic work that questions in an original and lucid intercultural exchange, the automatic assumptions held by the participants. The exhibit at the MAI is composed of two distinct parts. In the first, Reframing (2005), a Polaroid photo taken of the seated visitor is numerically manipulated with the addition of a chador. This imposes identification with oneself in the skin of another and with a view from a distant culture while participating in a work of art.
The second part, which is titled Interactive Translocation, consists of a virtual voyage between Montreal and Tehran. In a room of four giant screens as walls, videos of people living in Montreal or Tehran are screened, and you are to choose with which location, with whom, and with what situation you want to interact with. By removing the barriers of space and time, Fariba Samsani forces you to communicate with the other, in a language you do not necessarily understand. The simulations of experienced situations in different places contribute to the reduction of language barriers and highlight the proximity of communities that would otherwise usually exist only in the shadows.
Playfully challenging stereotypes with an interactive device!
Musical dialogue and virtual choreography [INTERDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE]
Faithful to its tradition of reconciling new technology and cultural traditions, Festival Accès Asie presents 10 Moments, the tenth edition of cyber-improvisation between Toronto and Montreal. In collaboration with OBORO, 10 Moments invites you to a virtual meeting between the light rhythms of the Chinese bamboo flute, the percussive sounds of the Iranian tombak and the graceful movements of an Indian dance. Transcending the limits of space and time, 10 Moments plays with the potentials of new technology creating a virtual dialogue between music, dance and cultures. Limited only by a time lapse of a few microseconds, Shuni Tsou with her flute in Toronto will improvise with the spontaneous rhythms of Ziya Tabassian in Montreal to compose the melody that will accompany the Indian choreography of Natasha Bakht.
Perspectives on internal rebellion and culinary diasporas [CINEMA]
In light of celebrating the seventh artform, Festival Accès Asie is pleased to present in collaboration with the NFB Theatre, two first works of Asian filmmakers proud of their heritage. The feature length fiction Yellow Fellas by Tetsuro Shigematsu is an in-your-face radical attack in a humorous manner, on media stereotypes of Asian men. In this film we follow Howie Hiroshima, a young Asian male tired of racism from the white society who decides to create a secret society of militant Asian men anxious to get their revenge against the society who has emasculated their identity. On the other end, Passions latines is the fourth episode of this ambitious documentary series Restaurants chinois by Cheuk Kwan who invites you in the discovery of the diasporas from the four corners of the globe while visiting behind the kitchen scenes and premises of these unique cultural mixes. This cinematic voyage more than meets the eye and is as funny as it is enlightening. In a thousand places in this 15 part series, Passion latines is a trilogy of three Chinese restaurants in South America situated respectively in Peru, Brazil and Argentina. A voyage full of surprises in the heart of the kitchens, the spectator will explore the profound humanity of uprooted migrants who preserve their ancient cultural heritage while building at the same time, a world of tomorrow.
Professional Initiatives in Classical Indian Dance [WORKSHOPS]
On Saturday May 18th, Festival Accès Asie is pleased to offer dancers the chance to take part in choreographic activities at the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) by participating in the dance workshop organized by choreographers and dancers, Natasha Bakht and Roger Sinha. In the framework of Sinha Dance Company’s world premier of Thread, this workshop initiates Indian Bharatanatyam dance and explores a new approach that incorporates an Indian aesthetic into the contemporary dance language. Later, on May 22nd, Festival Accès Asie is honored to welcome Hemalayaa Behl, choreographer, dancer and yoga instructor for a workshop on Indian and Bollywood dance. This workshop aimed for professional dancers is the chance to plunge into the colorful and fascinating universe of Indian musical comedy.
An Indian closing [DANCE/MUSIC/CINEMA]
Bollywood Party & other perfumes from India- Take 4 (The Garden of Love) pays tribute to Bollywood, the popular cinema of India and to the diversity of Indian culture. Organized in collaboration with the creator-director Caroline Tabah, this spicy evening combines, in a first part, musicians and dancers. Kathak dancers, Bollywood dancers, Bhangra dancers, Whirling Dervishes, and others. Featuring poems of great Indian authors such as Rabindranath Tagore and Kabir, the program includes in the second part, the projection of Bollywood film excerpts, with also images, sounds and music from and inspired by India. People are invited to dance in this Indian magic.
Let’s celebrate ! Let’s embrace life !
Press contact: Olga Pudelko (514) 570-0931