Engrenage Noir is an independent artist organization, which, since 2001, has supported the practice of community activist art. Until 2011, this support was offered through the LEVIER project (www.engrenagenoir.ca/levier).

Engrenage Noir is now continuing its activities with a new project called ROUAGE, which resulted from the previous experience of LEVIER. (LEVIER’s work is documented in the book, Affirming Collaboration: Community and Humanist Activist Art in QuŽbec and Elsewhere, available in bookstores or online from www.engrenagenoir.ca/levier/).

With this new project, Engrenage Noir aims to associate itself with community organizations that work against the systemic forces of neo-liberalism and the market economy of capitalism, and confront the systemic causes of poverty. Engrenage Noir hopes to explore with them how community activist art projects can support their socially and politically engaged activity, and at the same time, include activist artists in these collaborations.

Engrenage Noir believes that community activism and the arts are not mutually exclusive. Both practices can benefit from collaborations that strengthen each. Both can share in the power of collective creation and discover new, exciting ways to work for social change and in the process, develop new cultures of resistance.

Engrenage Noir / ROUAGE is therefore launching in 2012 a new program of support for community activist art projects with the same ethic and sense of responsibilities which have always influenced LEVIER’s work.

The approach was never simply to distribute financial support and say, ‘Congratulations for having submitted a successful project demand! We look forward to reading your final report.’ We don’t subscribe to the idea that artists are there to ‘help’ or ‘guide’ a community organization and its members. Our ethical approach demands a much greater implication on the part of artists. Our collaboration with partnering community organizations, and equally, with the artists involved, starts right from the beginning, when the idea for the project is first conceived.

In addition to financial aid, Engrenage Noir also offers other types of support, acting as a liaison between community organizations and artists and providing basic training and follow-through.

For the OPDS (People’s Organization for Social Rights), which was at the time having difficulty renewing its activist membership base, the project helped strengthen the sense of belonging within the organization by helping people discover alternative methods of communication.”

- Manipuler avec soin [Handle with Care] project, OPDS, in Affirming Collaboration, p. 160

Website for the ROUAGE program: http://engrenagenoir.ca/rouage/

Turbine

Main activities are :

• Development of creative teaching in the arts, cultural, school and community.
• Training of stakeholders in cultural mediation.
• Organization of training workshops which offer the integration of technologies and current practices in arts education.
• Creation of teaching tools.
• Artist residencies related educational projects.
• Publication of research and practice in arts education.

Check  out their website for more information about their projects and services :

http://www.centreturbine.org/

Exeko

The organization was born from in 2006 to promote innovation in education and culture. It conceives education according to open education’s principles and culture according to cultural mediation’s principles.

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Youth present The Ratiweras and the Giant Snake, Mohawk legends shared by Wariose Gabriel and Kate Oke, two elders from the community.

On the program for the performance night:

jam juggling, traditional dance with the public and awards for children, not to mention the central theater play staged by the young and inspired stories and legends passed on by Mohawk Wariose Gabriel and Kate Oke, two seniors community present for the show.

Tandem Créatif exhibiton at articule

Tandem Créatif brings people together in an innovative way. It is a place where creative exchanges can take place between emerging and professional artists. So far, nothing seems new, except that the emerging artists participating to Tandem Créatif create with their difference: an intellectual disability.

Each session, which brings together two artists to co-create and exchange on their practice, is guided by a mediator who ensures a flowing dialogue. Tandem Créatif is organized in collaboration with,articule, an artist-run center that puts forward professional artists to join in the project, co-selects the pairs, hosts the final exhibition, and fosters the dialog between the emerging artists, the audience and the artistic community.

As the initiator of Tandem Créatif, Exeko sees to the program coordination and outreach,ensures the dissemination of the artwork and provides mediation for each paired session.

Together, we are working towards a common goal introduce the public and the cultural community to the talent of the participating artists

A photo from Occupy Montreal, October 23, 2011

What is Inspire Art?

Inspire Art is an on-line magazine (based in Montréal, Québec) that is dedicated to creating more awareness about how we are using artistic expression to empower communities and advocate for social and environmental justice.

• Promote your community art events, programs and projects
• Learn about and share ideas related to community art practices.
• Send your information to: info@inspireart.org

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Community art takes many forms – aesthetically and socially. For those who would like to understand the term better, here are a few definitions that may help.

On the site you can search the archives by date and various topics ( see the columns on the right side).

Enjoy!

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Thank you to WordPress and to MICHAEL JUBEL HUTAGALUNG, the developer of this website template called Arthemia. It is truly wonderful how accessible these open-source web design tools are.

2050 RUE AMHERST, MONTRÉAL

Creative student and community contributions related to social and environmental justice at Concordia University

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2012

7th Floor, Hall Building at Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve West, métro Guy-Concordia
wheelchair accessible — free — welcome to all

ART IN ACTION highlights creative expression on social and environmental justice issues through diverse mediums including: drawing, painting, photography, performance, film & video, installation, spoken word, zine, collage, watercolour, poster, and print.

This year ART IN ACTION includes close to thirty exhibits, installations and performances from: Claude Bernier-Tremblay * Al Blair * Karen Boyles * Anne Breton * Andrea deBruijn * Sylvia Chan * Emily Yun Ching Clare & Ryan Kai Cheng Thom * Shaw Desjean * Colectivo Dignidad Migrante * Arthur Gauthier * Guillaume Girard * GLAD Theatre Collective * Bianca Hlywa * Alix Hugonnier * Sophie Ingels-Fortier * Virginie Jourdain * John Lanthier * Naomi Large * Allison LaSorda * Emmanuelle Lippé * Kevin Yuen Kit Lo * Simone Lucas & Christian Scott * Cassandra Marsillo * Léa Radoslava Marinova * Erica Mazerolle * Nadia Myre * Hannah Palmer * Sheryl-Ann Simpson * Keara Yim

- full details below or http://www.qpirgconcordia.org/studyinaction/art
- facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/237215266364030/

ART IN ACTION is part of STUDY IN ACTION (MARCH 2-4), which together not only cross disciplinary lines, but also transcend borders between academic and popular knowledge.
For more information about STUDY IN ACTION: www.qpirgconcordia.org/studyinaction

http://www.qpirgconcordia.org/studyinaction

ART IN ACTION VIEWING HOURS:
- Monday, February 27, 10am-8pm ** vernissage from 5-7pm, with artists present **
- Tuesday, February 28, 10am-5pm
- Wednesday, February 29, 10am-8pm
- Thursday, March 1, 10am-8pm
- Friday, March 2, 10am-10pm ** “5 à 7”, with artists present **
- Saturday, March 3, 10am-8pm
- Sunday, March 4, 10am-6pm

ART IN ACTION PERFORMANCES :
Art In Action performances will take place during the week on the 7th floor of the Hall Building, including:
- Opium Dreams (Ryan Kai Cheng Thom): MONDAY, February 27 at 5pm.
- Piece of Trash (GLAD Collective, Concordia University): FRIDAY, March 2 at 1pm.
- Suces Moi (Virginie Jourdain): FRIDAY, March 2, 6pm.

ART IN ACTION FILM & PERFORMANCE NIGHT:
Saturday, March 3, 6pm at 2055 Bishop Street (not wheelchair accessible); featuring:
- Opium Dreams (performance by Emily Yun Ching Clare & Ryan Kai Cheng Thom);
-Banca Rota (video by Emmanuelle Lippé)
- La femme aux cigarettes (film by Léa Radoslava Marinova)

- After March 4 until the end of the month, Art In Action exhibits will be displayed at L’Escalier, Galerie X, the Concordia Greenhouse, QPIRG Concordia, and other locations around Montreal.

INFO:

www.qpirgconcordia.org/studyinaction/art

studyinaction@qpirgconcordia.org

514-848-7585
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Founded by Astoux Sebastian (Seb Astwo) and Candice Archer, Agora’rt creates artistic projects such as murals in schools, youth centers, community centers and clubs.

Please consult their website for more information: http://www.agorart.ca

Contact:
Agora’rt inc. 4247 St Dominique Studio 203
Montréal Québec QC H2W 2A9 Canada

E-mail: info@agorart.ca
Téléphone: 514 849 2498
Mobile: 438 877 2498

Photovoice is a participatory action research strategy using photography as a tool of social change. The process turns the camera lens toward the eyes and experiences of vulnerable populations and gives people the opportunity to record, reflect and critique personal and community issues in creative ways. source: http://photovoice.ca/

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Family Photos:

Digital photography as Emancipatory Art Education in Montreal’s Black Community

Thesis by Rosalind Hampton

click here to download thesis

This thesis documents a participatory action research project in which I collaborated with a Caribbean-Canadian family of four, to study their experiences of familial art education and photographic practice, and to generate recommendations for Emancipatory Art Education in Montreal’s Black community. Emancipatory Art Education (EAE) is an emerging approach to Black community art education that I situate among African Diaspora traditions of ‘education for liberation’ and critical multiculturalism discourses in the field of art education. Family Photos begins a long-term participatory research practice aimed at defining and developing EAE theory and practices for the community from within the community. An autoethnographic study through which I locate and situate my identities as a Black Montrealer consequently emerges as a critical component of this work.

Through studying and practicing photography as art, family members develop technical skills and inclusive understandings of art, while increasingly expressing their own individual and collective aesthetic identities. All express affirmative feelings about the project and a desire to participate in similar projects in the future, and thus conclude that family art practice can be a positive and engaging practice for other families and members in the Black community. Our results emphasize photographic practice as a site for exploring issues of identity, race and representation, and tensions between the private and the public. Recommendations are geared toward EAE and address familial and intergenerational community art education; photography, ethics and boundary control; and participatory action research in community art education.

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RUE-ELLES/URBAN LIFE ST♀RIES, YWCA, MONTREAL

Rue-Elles/Urban Lifest♀ries was a workshop series with the YWCA and Mapping Memories. The series was directed towards women and girls with experience living in the street who developed stories and photographs over 2 workshops of 4 days each. The first week we worked primarily with women over 30 and the second week we worked with teenagers and young women under the age of 25. The workshops were held at the YWCA and at the headquarters of LOVE (Leave Out Violence), a youth violence prevention organization. With the resulting work we created an art installation that was up for five weeks on Pierce Street at the corner of St. Catherine Street West.

Mapping Narratives has also led workshop series with the Leadership Department of the YWCA, Montreal. Group Facilitators learned how to frame story narratives, take still photographs, and record audio stories. The stories are being used as models in workshops conducted with women and girls. Look for the examples under video.

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ATWATER DIGITAL LITERACY PROJECT

The Digital Literacy Project (DLP) is an initiative of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre, which encourages youth and community groups to discover new and creative ways to use digital technologies in order to discuss issues important to them, develop skills, and build community.

In 2011 DLP offered : Introduction to Photo-Voice with the Yellow Ribbon Social Club

In May and June, members of the Yellow Door’s Yellow Ribbon Social Club participated in aphoto-voice workshop designed for seniors interested in learning new technologies to share stories with other generations. Over five two-hour sessions, participants learned how to develop scripts, scan and locate images, and create and edit short videos using Windows Live Movie Maker.

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Visualizing the Margins: The Experiences of Queer People of Colour

Woo Jin Edward Lee , School of Social Work , McGill University, Montreal

August, 2009

click here to download this thesis

This study incorporates a critical AOP theoretical framework in order to answer the central research question which seeks to reveal the ways in which queer people of colour conceptualize their intersecting identities and resist interlocking systems of domination. Photovoice, a community-based and visual PAR methodology, enables participants to visualize their everyday realities through photography, describe their lives through these photos and individual narratives, and through critical dialogue create themes which speak to their collective experiences. Participants spoke of how historical displacement and intersecting experiences of marginalization resulted in emotional and psychological responses which complicated their relationships to mental health. Key findings reveal the complexities of integrating a historicized trans-national identity and the contemporary effects of political and structural intersectionality on the lives of queer people of colour in Canada. By collectively conceptualizing strategies of survival and resistance, this collaborative and community-building process generated new knowledge, which will serve to inform social work policies and practices.

Cette étude emploie un cadre théorique critique AOP afin de répondre à la question centrale de recherche suivante: Quelle sont les façons que les minorités sexuelles racialisées conceptualisent leurs identités intersectionnelles et comment résistent-ils aux systèmes de domination qui s’enclenchent? Photovoix est une méthode de PAR, visuelle et communautaire, qui permet aux participants de s’imaginer leurs réalités quotidiennes à travers la photographie en prenant des photos et en créant des narrations. Avec le dialogue critique, les participants ont crée des thématiques collectives. Ils ont décrit le rapport entre leur santé mentale et leur état émotionnel et psychologique résultant des effets complexes de déplacement historique et des expériences d’exclusion intersectionelles. Les résultats indiquent que les minorités sexuelles racialisées au Canada développent une identité historique et transnationale et sont enclavées par les effets politiques et structurelles de l’oppression intersectionnelle. En créant des stratégies de survivance, ce processus communautaire a produit des nouvelles connaissances qui serviront de s’informer des pratiques et des mesures politiques de travail social.

@ basement of Native Friendship Center of Montreal, 2001 Boul. St-Laurent

514-499-1854 (# 2229)

artist: Rodney Jandrey (for sale at the Centre, $90.00)

The turtle, or Mikinak in Algonquin, is a common symbol for longevity and perseverance in Native cultures. The stone sculpture project at the Native Friendship Centre of Montrabout:blankeal (NFCM) reflects the importance of these qualities embodied by our youth artists.

The objective for the sculpture project is to engage Aboriginal youths in Montreal in an artistic manner, to cultivate their talents, creativity, and traditional knowledge, as well as develop skills beyond their art such as commitment, respect, and responsibility. These works will be showcased in art expositions hosted by the (NFCM). Young artists’ works will be displayed alongside other artworks of elders and community members.

Our vision for this project is for it to become a self-sustaining socio-economic enterprise. Through the sale of their artwork, the youths will be rewarded for their time and effort, and the NFCM will be able to re-invest in and improve on this project. The co-operative is envisioned to be entirely managed and run by youth members of the NFCM, and to become a long-standing establishment not only in the Native community but also the city of Montreal at large.