From spring arises a movement. We populate the streets, occupy the space and paint it red. We ste outside, step forward, step towards the others. We decompartmentalize to better share, here and now, a same present. That is what the OFFTA mainly is: a great gathering, an abundance of creativity from which resonate the voices of a generation. In this spring of uprising, we can hardly keep our enthusiasm about the 2012 edition of the festival to ourselves... so let us reveal a few appetizers.
For its sixth edition, the OFFTA occupies Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui and transforms it into a neuralgic center where artists and festivalgoers can rally. It is also at Aux Écuries, at Usine C, at Agora de la danse, at Maison de la culture du Plateau-Mont-Royal, at articule and in the window display of Georges Laoun Opticien that the OFFTA invites you, once again, to ten days of rare and uncommon shows and activities.
Opening night
Friday, May 25 ::: 7pm / 2am ::: Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui ::: 15$ regular ::: 12$ student
To celebrate the opening of the festival, Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui will wear its party clothing for a great celebration of creation and experimentation... during seven hours!
A record player. A pile of records. For every record, one story ready to be told. PME-ART, finalist of the 27th Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal, presents the fifth part of its HOSPITALITÉ-HOSPITALITY project. The DJ who gave too much information explores the way music infiltrates our personal and social lives, affecting our ongoing understanding of love, work and how we think society should operate. Until now, the collective formed by Caroline Dubois, Claudia Fancello and Jacob Wren gave twenty one performances of HOSPITALITY 5 - here and abroad - in theatres, hotel lobbies, record stores, etc., but never in its whole. This time, the performance will not stop until there are no records left and no more stories to tell. Seven hours of DJ, seven hours of hospitality... Until the end of music.
On this evening of music - during which audience may freely roam - the main lobby is transformed into a "tasting installation"! Installed by Dean Baldwin, artist who spiced up the Triennale québécoise 2011 with one of his creations, Prop Room Drip Drop Boom is a social sculpture spiked with alcohol and food, a piece located halfway between the conviviality of a fiery cocktail and the solemnity of a socially engaged work of art. Specifically created for the OFFTA, this installation makes use of existing elements found inside the theatre which usually remain hidden from view, to present them to the public en masse, at the very front of theatre, arranged as a kind of hanging garden distributing food and beverages. Inaugurated on the opening night of the festival, the installation will be alive throughout the festival with the presence of artists and their own special culinary creations.
Here we are
Sunday May 27 ::: 9pm ::: Aux Écuries ::: 15$ regular ::: 12$ student
Strike or not, here they come! Here and now, young artists speak up, fired by the same desire: to finally express their unique voices. The Here we are night is the only moment in Montreal where young graduates from the different art schools of the city (theatre, dance, performance) can share a same stage. These young artists present a selection of short creation pieces, thereby insufflating their aspirations into the OFFTA and its audience. A thrilling and inspiring evening for the shear pleasure of being together, in the right place, at the right time, to see the premiere of today and tomorrow’s live art.
Sigle tickets for both these events are on sale now at Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, official ticket office of the 6th edition of the OFFTA.
Tickets ::: 514-282-3900
The whole programming of this year's OFFTA will be revealed on Thursday May 3rd 2012 during a festive launch not unlike a great popular rally. We will not fail to invite you to this merry event! The 6th edition of the OFFTA, once again, will be a great cultural demonstration that favors the confrontation of ideas and the generation of new artistic phenomena... with cake, tartines and other surprises on the side!
::: Photo credits :::
OFFTA 2012: Jacynthe Carrier
PME-ART, The DJ who gave too much information: David Jacques.
DEAN BALDWIN, The Yukon City Sweet Gold Drinkery (2009), installed at The Model, Sligo, Ireland: Dean Baldwin.