February 3rd to 13th, 2022
$1 to 40 suggested — nobody turned away for lack of funds
Buy your QPC Pass here >
A collaboration between Studio 303, MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) and La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines. Queer Performance Camp aims to create new ways to connect, grow and build community, while supporting the development of queer artists through workshops, gatherings and shows. Intentionally nestled into the dead of winter, QPC brings love, light, and queer self-care to a cold and dark time of year.
After an exciting online Camp in 2021, Justin de Luna and Winnie Ho are back as co-curators, offering new virtual gatherings and exchanges! 🌈
INTRO NOTE FROM JUSTIN + WINNIE // Chicken soup for the soul.
For this year’s edition of Queer Performance Camp, we decided to centre the heart at the core of our activities. As we slowly emerge out from the darkness of the recent year, and normalcy propels itself back into place, we wanted to weave the spirit of medicine throughout our string of events this year. Our goal as curators is to cultivate a place for community, healing, hope and love. A space to grieve, process and dream all together. Resilience requires a courageous heart, which that in and of itself, demands it’s own tending to.
Transformation holds as a steadfast pillar in our curatorial aim this year and our wish as curators is that our programming can offer an opportunity for growth, nourishment and evolution for our participants, invited artists and public.
GATHERINGS
THURSDAY, FEB. 3 // Vernissage les liens with Thierry Huard
Join us for the opening vernissage of les liens with Thierry Huard and Nate Yaffe! The exhibition/installation/intervention will run from February 3rd to 26th, and is free to access from Tuesday to Saturday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Facebook event >
SUNDAY, FEB. 6 // Temple for Queers: Frozen Sky Lodge with Weather beings : Moe & Victoria
◗ 5 to 6 p.m., ONLINE
◗ Included in the QPC pass >
◗ In English, Te Reo Maori, nêhiyawêwin + whatever languages the spirits want to speak. – French translation via chat
cosmic conduits + freakee devotees
we assemble at 5:00
prayer begins as light descends (5:08pm)
mythical beings conjured at the in-between
in tastawayihk-iyiniwak we believe
takatāpui winds animate
their magical voices we receive
somatic sensing commencing
we trance softly and gently
requesting permission from
celestial, terrestrial + subterranean guardians
to align sacred frequencies
we enchant, incant, body wiggle, spirit squiggle
in a great conjuring of aroha – sakihitowin
we praise intimate kin
What to bring: dress to impress the spirits + bring a small personal towel. No cellphones, come as you would to a ceremony.
ABOUT TEMPLE FOR QUEERS ➜
ACCESSIBILITY ➜
BIO ➜
MONDAY, FEB. 7 // Two Spirit & Indigiqueer Futurisms: from sci-fi storytelling to sovereign spaces with Gabe Calderón
◗ 7 to 9 p.m., ONLINE
◗ Included in the QPC pass >
◗ In English – French translation via chat
This interactive knowledge sharing session centres around two spirit and the expression of word through writing prompts with participants, as well as some teachings and understandings of two spirit.
“Two spirit has always been a sacred community and spiritual role within Indigenous communities to Turtle Island – as in-betweens, we offer the world a unique view, we bend time and space as the keepers of balance. Our stories, lived experiences and artistic outputs are vital to the healing of Indigenous and queer and gender diverse communities. From poetry, speculative fiction, documentaries, satirical playwriting, erotic paintings, beaded BDSM hoods and evocative dance, we currate and create the unimaginable, the unbelieveable and the impossible, birthing new realities and new ways of exsisting.” – Gabe Calderón
BIO ➜
SATURDAY, FEB. 12 // Tea with Lenore & Lois with Lenore Claire Herrem + Lois Weaver
◗ 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., ONLINE
◗ Included in the QPC pass >
◗ In English – French translation via chat
Elders hold an important role in the fabric of Queer community. Meeting each other for the first time through this online gathering, this intergenerational duo will exchange and reflect on what came before, what’s happening now, and what’s coming next.
Participants are welcome to ask questions and join in on the conversation – or listen in, à la podcast!
BIO ➜
SUNDAY, FEB. 13 // Temple for Queers: revitalizing holy spaces using movement, mindfulness and magic with Cosmique Tea
◗ 1 to 2 p.m., ONLINE
◗ Included in the QPC pass >
◗ In English – French translation via chat
In short, revitalizing holy spaces using movement, mindfulness and magic will serve as a safe(r) space for participants to excavate below the surface feelings and energy in motion (emotions) through the use of ancient and ancestral practices that can include but are not limited to movement, mindfulness and good ole magic.
ABOUT TEMPLE FOR QUEERS ➜
ACCESSIBILITY ➜
BIO ➜
WORKSHOPS
MONDAY, FEB. 7 TO FRIDAY, FEB. 11 // DAY RAVE workshop with Malik Nashad Sharpe
◗ 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Mon. – Fri.)
◗ Open to artists of all disciplines
◗ Language of instruction: English (Questions can also be asked in French)
◗ Registration and details here >
DAY RAVE is a collaborative creation process that looks towards rave culture in order to find tools for making choreography together. Inspired by both the collectivity and autonomy of raving during these unprecedented times where particular ways of gathering have been caught up in the fraught frameworks of il/legality, it feels important to consider this space, this culture, as a site of generative possibility. In this workshop, we will spend much of our time dancing alone, or together, cultivating movement practices that stem and originate from our own unique desires, against the desires of those around us. What we make of it, what we do with it, is up for grabs. RAVE CULTURE SHOWS US THE WAY.
POSTPONED – MARCH 27TH // Vocal Soundpainting workshop with Gabriel Dharmoo
◗ 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
◗ Open to artists of all disciplines
◗ Language of instruction: French (Questions can also be asked in English)
◗ Registration and details here >
Vocal exploration and improvisation session for artists of all disciplines, guided by Gabriel Dharmoo, musician and drag artist who is presenting his show Bijuriya at MAI from March 17-19, 2022.
SHOWS
POSTPONED: THURSDAY, MARCH 17 TO SATURDAY, MARCH 19 // Bijuriya with Gabriel Dharmoo
◗ 3 showings at MAI
◗ Box office now open >
◗ Discount offered to anyone who attends a Queer Performance Camp gathering or workshop!
Gabriel is a music composer and experimental vocalist. Bijuriya is a drag artist engaging with South Asian culture. Gabriel values innovation and risk taking as he navigates Eurocentric artistic scenes. On social media, Bijuriya lip-syncs her way into the hearts of brown queers. Both of them have marginal practices but they have very different audiences. Gabriel and Bijuriya are one person; it’s time to bring them together on one stage. Code-switching between drag, critical discourse and sound singing, this piece celebrates the artist’s brownness through an array of unexpected talents. A quirky yet vulnerable exploration of their inadequacy to fully represent the subcultures they seek to embrace.
CANCELLED // How to Fail as a Popstar with Vivek Shraya
◗ Enjoy a QPC edition of #Lachapellelit instead >
Illuminating, raw, honest and hopeful, this debut theatrical work chronicles Vivek’s journey to “not quite” pop music superstardom. A reflection on the power of pop culture, dreams, disappointments, and self-determination, this astonishing performance is a triumph in finding one’s authentic voice.
STUDIO 303’S ACCESSIBILITY >
New QPC logo by Francesca Chudnoff