CUlTURe

qUeBecSeptember 2012 – February 2013

UK – Ireland – Nordic Countries

5Oth AnniversAry issue Of the Québec

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Greetings from London

Welcome to our second biannual cultural brochure celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Québec Government Office in London. We are privileged to mark this important milestone with our partners from the UK during this year of Jubilee and Olympics festivities. Half way through the year, I am delighted to report on a very exciting calendar of celebrations with many more important events to come.

The festivities major cultural highlights have included Québec’s foremost conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in his debut at the Royal Opera House and the presentation of our National Day

concert by the young and extremely talented bass-baritone Philippe Sly, winner of the Prix Joseph Rouleau and the 2012 Montréal International Musical Competition.

We were also delighted to see many Québec artists involved in the Cultural Olympiads 2012 including folk music band La Bottine Souriante representing Canada on the Americas stage with a concert at the Tower of London for the pre-Olympic event BT River of Music and singer-songwriter Lynda Thalie, giving two concerts in London (Exhibition Road Show and French Institute) on the invitation of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie as part of their campaign Le Français J’adore to name but a few. Also, 13 young artists from Québec will be descending on Nottingham shortly for the finale of the 2012 Cultural Olympiads, World Event Young Artists, where they will be joining a thousand artists from one hundred countries!

Coming up, the third edition of the Québec Annual Lecture will be highly cultural, as we present this year Mr. Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil as our special guest speaker on the 10th October at Cadogan Hall. Certainly a very inspiring event not to be missed this autumn!

It is with great pride that I invite you to browse the following pages to discover just a few of the wonderful cultural offerings from Québec coming to these shores in the next six months. I thank you all for your positive support and participation.

Pierre Boulanger Agent General, Québec Government Office in London

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Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/QuebecUK and Twitter: @Quebec_UK

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2012 in London has been an amazing year: we’ve seen celebrations on an unprecedented scale, a tremendous renewal of national pride and the warmest of welcome to the world nations: athletes, artists and tourists alike! Thankfully, even the weather gave us a break for a few weeks!

I’ve been deeply inspired by the spirit of our local arts partners in the face of the cuts and never ending financial crisis as well as their determination to remain open and active on the international scene. It is in times like these that culture most needs to cross borders, cross fertilise, open dialogue and

opportunities and push the boundaries of sustainable development.

We’re thrilled to see that Québec artists and their work still travel here and that exchanges and partnership continue to grow and multiply. We’re also very pleased that Canada has been selected as one of the ‘third country’ for a special European cultural grant in 2013. We hope many of you will take this opportunity to relight or deepen your relationship with Québec artists with new exciting projects.

You’ll see there’s plenty to choose from again this autumn and winter in the next few pages especially in cinema with a Québec Focus at the Raindance Film Festival, Xavier Dolan’s latest film Laurence Anyways coming to the London Film Festival before its national release, Ken Scott’ film Starbuck also on national release in anticipation of its remake by Stephen Spielberg (Vince Vaughn stars) and finally the first edition of the event Québec Cinema Showcase as part of the French Film Festival UK at the French Institute in London and other venues nationwide in early November!

Enjoy what’s on offer this autumn and winter, from cinema to music, visual arts to theatre and design to circus and don’t hesitate to contact us. My team and I will be delighted to help you realise your project with Québec. Let’s together make the next 50 years even more successful.

Maude LaflammeDirector of Cultural Services, Québec Government Office in London

Philippe MalouinDigital Crystal: Swarovski at The Design Museum

5 September 2012 – 13 January 2013 – Design Museum, London

Over the past decade, Swarovski’s design and architecture commissions have served as an experimental platform for leading figures in design to conceptualise, develop and share their most radical ideas.

Building on this platform, the Design Museum and Swarovski are now challenging some of the most exciting contemporary talents to explore the future of memory in the fast-developing digital age.

Québec’s Philippe Malouin is among the selected designers. Malouin’s Blur spins a Swarovski crystal at speed, extracting a prism of light to create a painting in a colourful spectrum. Influenced by the CERN Hadron Collider, the pictures are temporary and dependent on the speed at which the crystals are spun.

www.designmuseum.orgwww.philippemalouin.com

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Chad DembskiFarewell Cardiff

14 & 15 September 2012 – Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Created and performed by Dustin Harvey (Secret Theatre, Halifax) and Chad Dembski (Surprise Performance, Montréal), Farewell is a good-bye party made specifically for a city.

On an ordinary night, in a place you might pass by everyday, two performers make several attempts at saying goodbye to all the past and future people to leave the city. Using a camera and some really long cords they transform a public street corner into a live video backdrop, and play with audience participation to make saying goodbye a little easier to do.

www.chapter.orgwww.surpriseperformance.blogspot.ca

The Guid SistersBy Michel Tremblay, directed by Serge Denoncourt

21 September – 13 October 2012 – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh23 – 27 October 2012 – King’s Theatre, Glasgow

23 years after its seminal staging by Michael Boyd, Bill Findlay and Martin Bowman’s translation of Les belles-soeurs returns to Scotland.

Germaine Luzon wins a million Green Shield stamps. She is in for a windfall but the only way she can collect the money is to stick each stamp into a book. Calling upon her family, friends and neighbours to help, the play listens in as this formidable group of women talk about life, the world and the men in their lives.

Coproduced by two leading Scottish theatre companies – the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and the National Theatre of Scotland and directed by celebrated Québec theatre director Serge Denoncourt.

www.nationaltheatrescotland.comwww.lyceum.org.uk

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World Event Young Artists7 – 16 September 2012

World Event Young Artists is the first event of its kind and will take place in the cultural city of Nottingham, England in September 2012.

This global event will showcase a selection of the best international creative talent, across a spectrum of art forms, in one city, providing an opportunity for 1000 artists aged 18 to 30 from 100 nations to join together and share their creativity on an international platform. It will be a finale to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the UK and builds on the success of the Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (BJCEM).

Thirteen young artists from Québec will be presenting their artwork and participating in the festival, representing various artistic disciplines including video art, performance, visual arts and music.

Emmanuel Mauries Rinfret is a video artist whose work is inspired by Montréal architect Norman Slater. His architectural illuminations have been projected on buildings in Montréal and will be projected onto the side of one of Nottingham’s landmark buildings – The Royal Centre.

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Delicate Beast is the work of choreographer Dorian Nuskind-Oder and her collaborators Nathan Yaffe, Simon Grenier-Poirer and Rose Marie Theriault. Delicate Beast’s performances utilise dance, video and sound design. For World Event Young Artists, they will be performing ‘No Light Thing’ - a love story consisting of a video camera, a television and a tape recorder used with performance. With a mix of subtle movement and strong emotion, the piece unfolds quickly, like the reading of a short story. Edward Maloney has created an interactive video installation that allows participants to see their reflections in street scenes filmed in Montréal; which will be re-presented in Nottingham. The installation combines life-size looped video projections of store fronts with closed-circuit video capturing visitors in the gallery environment. Live video of visitors is then merged and integrated with the projected video. Other selected artists participating in the festival from Québec are: Interdisciplinary visual artist Annie Briard, performance artist Hugo Nadeau, musician and performer Esteban Lara, musician and composer Évolène Lüthi, sound artist Jesse Osborne-Lanthier filmmaker and visual artist Caroline Monnet and visual artist JJ Levine. www.emmanuelmr.com www.edwardmaloney.comwww.delicatebeast.com www.anniebriard.comwww.hugonadeau.com www.vandid.comwww.evoluthi.bandcamp.com www.meatparade.bandcamp.comwww.cargocollective.com/carolinemonnet www.jjlevine.ca

www.worldeventyoungartists.com

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Québec FocusScreened at the Apollo Cinema Piccadilly Circus

26 September – 7 October 2012, London

Raindance Film Festival is UK’s leading independent film festival. Raindance aims to nurture, support and promote independent films and filmmakers from the UK and around the world, making it the most noted festival of discovery and for launching debut filmmakers in Europe. Raindance is proud to welcome five recent films from Québec, all screening as UK Premieres. The Québec Focus is made possible thanks to the support of SODEC and the Québec Government Office in London.

En Terrains Connus (Familiar Ground) by Stéphane Lafleur - UK Premiere

Thursday 27 September

Brother and sister Benoît and Maryse lead seemingly normal lives. Everything is changed by a series of coincidences, and the arrival of a man claiming to come from the future. Familiar Ground

is a film with a slow but steady pulse, and one that leaves a lasting impression.In presence of Stéphane Lafleur.

Laurentie by Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie - UK Premiere

Friday 28 September

Laurentie is the raw portrait of a young Québécois who feels alienated from his job, his on-and-off girlfriend, his drinking buddies and, perhaps most of all, his new neighbour. Favouring long unbroken shots and ambient sound, the filmmakers slowly but surely draw us in until the haunting finale.In presence of Simon Lavoie.

Le Vendeur (The Salesman) by Sébastien Pilote - UK Premiere

Saturday 29 September

The Salesman is a delightfully observed and impressively assured debut film from Sébastien Pilote. A 67 year-old car salesman in a snow-covered depressed town in Northern Québec prides himself on his selling abilities, despite the fact that the economy is slowly destroying this working-class town.

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Over My Dead Body by Brigitte Poupard - UK Premiere

Sunday 30 September

Over My Dead Body follows renowned Québec choreographer Dave St. Pierre during the several year period when he waits for a lung transplant – the only way to save his life from cystic fibrosis. Filmmaker Brigitte Poupart is St. Pierre’s friend and creative partner and delivers a personal, intimate and honest documentary.In presence of Brigitte Poupard.

Après la Neige (Winter Passed) by Paul Barbeau - UK Premiere

Monday 1 October

A music video producer is forced to shut down his production company due to the illegal downloading of music. He attempts to reconnect with his teenage son, but realises he may have lost more than he ever imagined. In presence of Paul Barbeau.

www.raindance.co.uk

www.micro-scope.cawww.metafilms.cawww.sevillepictures.comwww.f3m.cawww.reprisefilms.com

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A film by Xavier DolanPresented at the BFI London Film Festival

10 – 21 October 2012, London

The third Cannes award-winning film by 23-year-old writer-director Xavier Dolan (Heartbeats, I Killed My Mother) will play the BFI London Film Festival. Laurence and Fred are a couple passionately in love who attempt to sustain their relationship when Laurence turns 30 and can no longer deny his desire to be a woman. Winning both the Queer Palm and the Best Actress award for Suzanne Clement as Fred, Laurence Anyways is set to hit UK cinemas on 2 November.

www.lylafilms.comwww.bfi.org.uk/lff

StarbuckA film by Ken Scott

UK release date: 23 November 2012

At 42, David lives the life of an irresponsible adolescent. Twenty years earlier, he’d provided sperm to a fertility clinic in exchange for money. As his on/off girlfriend tells him she is pregnant, he also discovers he’s the father of 533 children, 142 of whom have filed a class action lawsuit to determine the identity of their biological father, known only by the pseudonym Starbuck.

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Québec Cinema Showcase2 – 4 November 2012 – Institut Français, London + other venues nationwide

The first edition of the Québec Cinema Showcase in London brings you six brand new films to discover! An extension of the marketplace event “Cinéma du Québec à Paris” now in its 16th edition, this is a unique occasion to see the next batch from the country that brought you The Barbarian Invasions (2004 Oscar winner), Incendies (2011 Oscar and 2012 BAFTA nominated) and Mr Lazhar (2012 Oscar nominated).

The Showcase is part of the 20th French Film Festival UK.

www.sodec.gouv.qc.cawww.institut-francais.org.uk/www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk/

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Iceland Airwaves Welcomes Québec31 October – 4 November 2012, Reykjavík

Reykjavík turns into the perfect festival city as the Iceland Airwaves festival welcomes some of the very best up-and-coming indie bands from Québec and around the world.

The Barr BrothersIn 2005, brothers Brad and Andrew moved to Montréal and began making music with Sarah Page, a classically trained harpist from Montréal with a propensity for the experimental. Multi-instrumentalist Andres Vial was later brought in to lend his wide array of expertise to the outfit, playing keyboards,

bass, vibes, percussion and singing. They called themselves The Barr Brothers. A unique sound was born, one reliant on interwoven string arrangements, wide open spaces, and a multitude of musical traditions. The Barr Brothers were also showcased at the Great Escape festival in Brighton.

DoldrumsThe work of Doldrums – 21 year old Airick Woodhead – floats in a sea of chopped up samples, disembodied vocals and tribal percussion. Spearing between electro-hallucinogenic freak outs and fuzzy warm nostalgia, his tracks somehow manage to elevate classic pop melodies above a sample

saturated sound collage. He has later toured with his close friend and, after a move to Montréal, new neighbour Grimes and cut a split single with DDMMYYYY. New tracks then fell in to the hands of cult London indie label No Pain In Pop - who also quickly confirmed the release of debut EP ‘Empire Sound’.

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Purity RingPurity Ring is an electronic music duo from Montréal, formed in 2010. Purity Ring makes lullabies for the club, drawing equally from airy 90s r&b, lush dream pop, and the powerful immediacy of the very best modern indie pop. The band erupted out of the gates in early 2011 with its first single “Ungirthed” b/w “Lofticries”, released on notable UK label Transparent, garnering praise from tastemakers such as Pitchfork, the Guardian, and the FADER.

Half Moon RunIt’s in a practice studio situated in Montréal’s Mile-End district, through the hardships of time constraints and flatlined bank accounts, that Half Moon Run bonded and created their unique sound, fusing together the restless elements of indie, pop and folk with beautiful rhythmic harmonies, delicate guitar lines and a hint of warm electronica. 2012 kicked off with the launch of their debut album Dark Eyes, entering right away into Canadian charts, followed by an international tour and a remarked presence in 2012 at Brighton’s infamous Great Escape festival.

These are just some of the Québec bands confirmed at this time, which M for Montréal will be accompanying along with other bands from Québec to the 2012 edition of Iceland Airwaves. Please visit the websites for the full line-up.

www.icelandairwaves.iswww.mpourmontreal.com

www.thebarrbrothers.comwww.endlessdoldrums.com www.halfmoonrun.indica.muwww.purityringsongs.com

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Chilly GonzalesA one-off show featuring Gonzales’ new Solo Piano II releaseProduced by the Barbican and the BBC Symphony Orchestra

20 October 2012 – Barbican Hall, London

All-round entertainer, pianist, rapper and self-proclaimed ‘musical genius’, Chilly Gonzales brings his iconoclastic orchestral hip-hop to the Barbican stage. The Montrealer joins forces with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jules Buckley for a show which includes orchestral adaptations of newly composed material from his upcoming Solo Piano II release, the world premiere of his Piano Concerto, and songs from his recent orchestral hip-hop album The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales.

www.barbican.org.ukwww.chillygonzales.com

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Les 7 Doigts de la mainSéquence 8

28 – 30 December 2012 & 2 – 6 January 2013 – Hangaren Subtopia, Stockholm

In their 8th and newest creation Les 7 Doigts de la main carry emotional dynamics to a point of explosion and propulsion.

In the show we find emotions so heightened they spring into action, relationships that transform and evolve until they create actual velocity. Set not in a specific time or place but rather on a vertical canvas of sorts, this acrobatic dance and theatre piece contemplates the role of the “other”, and how we define ourselves through and against it.

www.subtopia.sewww.7doigts.com

Cirque du SoleilKooza

5 – 27 January 2013 – Royal Albert Hall, London

KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: it combines two circus traditions - acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendour. Between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, KOOZA explores themes of fear, identity, recognition and power. The show is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement.

www.royalalberthall.comwww.cirquedusoleil.com

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Robert LepagePlaying Cards 1: Spades (UK Premiere)

February – March 2013 – Roundhouse, London

Spades is a remarkable new production from world-renowned theatre-maker Robert Lepage. True to this outstanding director’s rich artistic legacy, the show makes brilliant use of theatrical wizardry and has been created exclusively for presentation in the round, including the Roundhouse’s stunning main space.

Spades is the first in a planned series of four plays, each shaped around one suit in a deck of cards. This first part explores the theme of war and juxtaposes the two desert cities of Las Vegas and Baghdad, at the onset of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

www.roundhouse.org.ukwww.lacaserne.net

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Dany LaferrièreThe Enigma of The Return

UK publication date: 28 February 2013

Dany Laferrière’s eleventh novel, The Enigma of the Return won many awards including the Prix Médicis and the Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal. The novel follows Laferrière as he returns to his birthplace in Haiti, 33 years after he left it, upon learning of his father’s death in New York. The narrative is somewhere between prose and poetry, nearing Japanese Haiku structures in some sections and evoking the hardship and the magic of life in Haiti.

MacLehose Press will bring Dany Laferrière to London as part the publisher’s 5 year anniversary and to celebrate the launch of his book in the UK.

Laferrière lives in Montréal and regularly returns to Haiti. Most recently he has become a significant spokesperson for Haiti in the aftermath of the recent earthquake.

www.maclehosepress.com

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C I N E M A

10 – 21 October 2012Festival du Nouveau Cinemawww.nouveaucinema.ca

7 – 18 November 2012Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréalwww.ridm.ca

20 February – 3 march 2013Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois www.rvcq.com

1 – 31 March 2013 (dates TBC)Festival International du Film pour Enfants de Montréal www.fifem.com

March 2013 (dates TBC)Festival International du Film sur l’artwww.artfifa.com

L I T E R AT U R E

14 – 19 November 2012Salon du Livrewww.salondulivredemontreal.com

April 2013 (dates TBC)Festival littéraire international de Montréal Metropolis bleu www.metropolisbleu.org

V I S U A L A R T S

1 – 31 Mai 2013La Biennale de Montréal www.biennalemontreal.org

15 June – 15 July 2013FIMA - Festival International Montréal en Arts www.festivaldesarts.org

M U S I C

14 – 17 November 2012M pour Montréalwww.mpourmontreal.com

1 – 28 february 2013 (dates TBC)Festival Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques www.festivalmnm.ca

1 – 31 May 2013 (dates TBC)Conférence Trad Montréal & La Grande Rencontre-Festival de musique et de dansewww.espacetrad.org

P E R F O R M I N G A R T S

12 – 18 November 2012 CINARSwww.cinars.org

12 – 25 November 2012Festival Les Coups de Théâtre www.coupsdetheatre.com

21 May – 8 June 2013Carrefour international de théâtrewww.carrefourtheatre.qc.ca

23 May – 8 June 2013Festival TransAmériques www.fta.qc.ca

D I G I TA L A R T S

29 May – 2 June 2013Festival MUTEK www.mutek.org

1 – 31 May 2013 (dates TBC)Festival ELEKTRA www.elektrafestival.ca

Dates for your diaryCultural events in Québec:

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For more information, please contact the cultural team: qc.london.culture@mri.gouv.qc.ca

Québec in the heart of London!Right in the heart of London, the Québec Government Office enjoys an enviable location. Many a visitor on his or her way back from Buckingham Palace has been surprised to see the fleurdelisé flag flying over 59 Pall Mall.

In addition to the Agent General’s office, the Délégation is made up of three departments and an investment promotion government agency:

• TheeconomicdepartmentassistsQuébeccompanieswishingtoexportgoods and services to the UK, Ireland and the Nordic Countries.

• Theculturedepartmentimplementsmarketdevelopmentinitiativesforartists and cultural industries from Québec. It works with local partners in order to assist the advancement of international partnerships, exchanges, market opportunities and networking.

• Thepublicaffairsdepartmentmaintainsrelationswithelectedofficialsand government departments, promotes exchanges and organises missions. It coordinates the educational and scientific cooperation programmes between Québec and the British Council, and provides information about Québec to the media and the general public.

• Andfinally,InvestQuébecmaintainsapermanentpresenceintheterritoryto promote inward investment and links with local firms that have established a presence in Québec.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any enquiries regarding the above.

Québec Government Office in London59 Pall MallLondon SW1Y 5JH020 7766 5900www.quebec.org.uk

Temporary address1 Heddon StreetLondon W1B 4BD

Published by the Québec Government Office in LondonDesigned by Gatti Creative Design Ltd

Whilst every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this information you are advised to contact the host organisation for confirmation.