Saturday, December 5th, 2020 Happening sporadically here and there $10 to 20 (sliding scale) — nobody turned away for lack of funds
TOLLÉ explodes out of the cabaret format, while staying true to its essence: political, festive, community-building. This year’s version is an off-stage, à la carte style event dispersed across the city and the Web. On the menu: a performative walking tour, an interactive performance, a DIY ritual package, an online concert, an audio guide, and an anti-racist gift bag, – all created in response to the incredibly unsettling, upside-down times we’re living through.
To end the day: Take part in the Tollé Show & Tell! at 9 p.m. – A semi-structured online gathering where the artists and all participants can come together and share their experiences in a relaxed, festive environment.
Choose your own adventure by signing up for as many (or as few) performances as you’d like. Each ticket is sold separately and will contribute to funding the event as a whole, and supporting each artist equally.
Anne proposes ritual as a tactic of resistance in a political and social environment that undermines physical and psychological health. Her offer: to create personalized ritual kits.
Whether you have a spiritual practice or not, you may want or need a ritual. Rituals provide an intimate moment of pause and communion and seek to heal, calm, and improve. This project honours women, “witches”, and the “unscientific” knowledge that heals people and communities.
Participants will be asked some questions (by phone, or email: as preferred), and Anne will design a ritual kit containing objects and a score, that will be mailed to you before the event. Perform your ritual at your convenience, and, if you’d like, document your kit or your experience (video, audio, written, image). Rituals can be performed casually or reverently, seriously or comically, drunk, naked, in costume. Deviations from “directions” are permitted and encouraged. You will have the opportunity to share and discuss with other receivers of rituals, and members of the Tollé community during the Tollé Show & Tell online gathering.
BIO //Anne Florentiny is a Martinique artist with a degree in visual arts and dance. In her work she questions sensuality, sexuality, eroticism, and how these concepts connect with spirituality and the sacred. Through the practice of performance, photography and video, she creates rituals and tries to reclaim the territory of the sacred in the imaginary space of the body. How can you use your body as a tool to resist oppressive structures? That is the quest that she pursues, by including self-care and healing in her practice, all in a decolonial approach.
kimura byol-nathalie lemoine / ‘All my sympathy, dear racism’ Pick-up near St-Hubert Street x Rosemont Blvd. Between 8 a.m – 8 p.m In English + French
On the morning of December 5th, 100 people will be invited to knock on kimura’s window to receive a special gift.
December 6th marks Saint-Nicolas Day in several European countries. Having grown up in Belgium in a Judeo-Christian culture, the traditions of this festival were part of Kimura’s youth. In the context of heightened anti-asian sentiment brought forward by the COVID19 pandemic, kimura plans to expand on the traditions of Saint-Nicolas, as an artistic gesture of “sympathy.”
The recipients will be invited to share their reactions to the gift bags at the Tollé Show & Tell, as well as on an online platform that kimura will compile.
ACCESSIBILITY // If you are unable to pick-up (Reduced mobility, high-risk for COVID-19, etc…), contact us to see if a delivery is possible.
BIO //kimura byol-nathalie lemoine (키무라 별 – 나타리 르뫈 – 木村 ビヨル – ナタリー レムワンー) is a conceptual multimedia feminist artist who works on identities (diaspora, ethnicity, colorism, post-colonialism, immigration, gender), and expresses it with calligraphy, paintings, digital images, poems, videos and collaborations. kimura*lemoine’s work has been exhibited, screened, published and supported nationally and internationally. kimura*lemoine, as curator, has developed projects that give voice and visibility to minorities. as an adoptee activist archivist, ze is working on A.C.A (adoptees cultural archives) to document the history of adoptee’s culture through media and arts. As an artist, kimura*lemoine received grants from Montreal Arts Interculturels, ‘Regard sur Montréal‘ (CAM, NFB, ACIC), and Prize PowerHouse from Gallery La Centrale a 2018 CALQ Grant for zer writing essay project ’88 etc. In 2020, kimura*lemoine completed Adoption 30 years after (with ACIC-ONF/NFB), exhibited at Dazibao (Jan.-Mar., 2020, Montreal) and coordinate ‘ConnexiOnze‘ project with the support of CCA.
Thomas Duret / Disobey the city Mile End 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. In French only
*Cancelled due to the extension of restrictions on gatherings and shows*
Disobeying the city is at the crossroads of the guided tour and the performative walking tour in the city of Montreal. Artist Thomas Duret invites a group of citizens to stroll with him and discuss the concept of civil disobedience. This approach seeks, through exchange with the group, to highlight the regulations that seem totally unfounded – and that we would like to see disappear. Can disorder really appear as innocuous and discreet gestures? Is it possible then to discuss our current urgencies and frustrations, and enjoy some fresh air, all while committing banal yet illegal acts? How does the presence of a group give a certain legitimacy to our actions, or at least gives us the courage that we would not have if we were alone?
BIO //Thomas generally uses a psychological mechanism of the human being or a mechanism of society as a starting point, and from there explores the impact on the individual and the collective. The codes of theatre, dance, performance, clown, music, visual/plastic arts and sport are all tools (which he does not hesitate to divert from) to create artistic objects, while seeking to redefine the place of the public as participants, rather than passive spectators. Thomas focuses his activities on the creation of new forms and scenic writings through an interdisciplinary, decolonial and socially inclusive approach.
In recent years, he has created numerous projects and performances at various festivals in Quebec and has obtained several residencies for his projects, both in Quebec and abroad (Berlin, Paris and Lima). His on stage projects include ‘Une excellente trilogie sur la vie’, presented in November 2017 at La Chapelle and in March 2019 at Mois Multi in Quebec City.
Aurélie Pédron + Marie-Hélène Bellavance / The trace of the fold (or accepting death) Wherever + Mile-End Between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. In French only
The trace of the fold (or accepting death) is a performative and participatory work that celebrates mourning; personal and collective.
An artistic proposal unfolding throughout the day of December 5, it blends with the daily life and obligations of each participant, based on the gestures of everyday life. It will be necessary to allow time, the possibility of having moments of solitude, and a trip to the Mile-End between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
On the morning of December 5th each participant will receive an audio guide that will invite them to go on a personal journey in simple actions and gestures, to finally meet separately in a space of possibilities.
BIO //Aurélie Pedron departs from the conventions associated with the performing arts to invite us to approach reality in an alternative way. At the edge of installation, choreography and performance, the unconventional works she presents in atypical venues invite the spectator-participants to lose their bearings and lend themself to the transformative experience offered to them.
Marie-Hélène Bellavance, a multidisciplinary artist, completed her BA in Fine Arts at Concordia University in 2004 with a minor in psychology. She has several collective and solo exhibitions to her credit, broadcast in various cultural and museum spaces in Quebec. Her practice revolves around the contemporary body and its innate capacity for resilience. Through pictorial, videographic or installation works, Maire-Hélène offers spectators a space of transformation and healing in the face of the different bereavements that pass through and inhabit us.
Noël Vezina + Jérôme Zerges / a cloud, a distance At Studio 303 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. In English + French
*Cancelled due to the extension of restrictions on gatherings and shows*
Part performance, part lab, part hangout. A way to hold each other in these weird times.
Participants will collectively curate a playlist, support the artists as they build a giant web with multi-coloured yarn, help destroy what they’ve built, and reconstruct the scraps.
Created from the need for connection, this event is ideal for anyone who enjoys the quiet peace of sitting next to someone without having to make conversation.
ACCESSIBILITY // This performance relies on participants holding onto a branch for 35-40 minutes, and requires a bit of resistance against tension that may gently pull the branch away. If this presents a challenge for you, please contact us and we can plan a modification.
BIO //Noël Vezina is a queer, independent, interdisciplinary artist. With little formal training (in ballet, contemporary dance), she is largely self taught and guided by intuition. She creates and performs ephemeral movement based performance in Montreal, Canada. She’s most recently shared her work with Sanskar Festival, DisAbled Women’s Network, and 5×8/6 (a performance evening she hosts in her apartment kitchen). https://noelvezina.weebly.com/
Jérôme Zerges is currently a student at l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. Previously a student at The National Circus School, he’s since shifted towards more somatic practices that bring depth to his performances as a dancer as much as clarify to his wellbeing and self. He’s performed for Festival Montréal Complètement cirque, Festival Quartiers Danses (Trip the Light Fantastic) and Carte Blanche (Noël Vezina) among others.
Jacqueline Van de Geer / Confinement Rhapsody Via Zoom 8 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. In English + French
During these days of confinement, isolation and lock down, we need the presence of each other, of sound, the outside world and to cherish our skills. Jacqueline Van de Geer presents an interactive Zoom concert from her living room using an antiquarian sampling and remixing technique sourced by movement, radio, old records and cassettes, as well as bells, chimes, paper, maracas… where up to 9 participants selected at random will help compose a Confinement Rhapsody!
BIO // Originally from the Netherlands, Jacqueline Van de Geer crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 to live and work in Montréal. She has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts and performance arts. Jacqueline draws inspiration from universal themes such as heritage, family, democracy, war, and the politics of exclusion. She uses a variety of media: performance, movement, monologue, object manipulation, improvisation, and visual art. It is important for her to surprise herself in her process and to share this exciting feeling of the unexpected with participants. Creating intimacy, garnering trust, and revealing the unsettling are critical to Jacqueline’s practice.
Photo credit : Julie Laurin, Pierre-Olivier Gaumond, Anne Florentiny, Sam Montalbetti
