Play & Distraction
March 4–February 26, 2017
Since 2009, Art Souterrain has been attracting large audiences and turning them on to contemporary art through its eponymous festival, held annually in Montreal's Underground City, breathing life into this original part of Montreal's architectural heritage.
This visual arts event—the only one of its kind in North America— will present, from March 4 through 26, 2017, the ninth edition of its free contemporary art festival, held along a six-kilometre trail inside nine buildings of Montreal's underground City as well as at seven satellite cultural venues. This year's theme is Play & Distraction.
Festival-goers will discover works by more than 60 Québec, Canadian and international artists and collectives selected by Art Souterrain senior curator and executive director Frédéric Loury, as well as by three guest curators: the duo of Patrick Bérubé and Chloé Grondeau, and Marie-Charlotte Carrier.
Among the artists featured will be: from Québec, Stéphane Gilot, Marc-Antoine K. Phaneuf Guillaume Brisson-Darveau, Olivia Mc Gilchrist, Skawennati, Jean-Pierre Gauthier ; from Canada, Toronto's An Te Liu; from abroad, Robert Barta (Czech Republic/Germany), Omar Victor Diop (Senegal), Shen Chao Liang (Taïwan), Chou Chin Hui (Taïwan), Alice Wielinga (North Korea), Dries Depoorter (Belgium), Laurent Perbos (France) and Myriam El Haïk (Morocco/France).
Performances, installations, interactive videos, photographs and sculptures will dot this extensive artistic trail, whose works will reflect this year's theme, Play and Distraction.
The festival Art Souterrain will kick off during Montreal's Nuit blanche, and over the following three weeks will offer 45 activities: commented visits each Tuesday and Wednesday at 6pm by a guest artist or a curator; public meetings with curators and artists of the underground trail to discuss the works on display, weekends from 12 to 6pm; guided visits with ambassadors; performance by an artist from the programming line-up, Monday to Friday, starting at 12pm; conferences; artist meet-and-greets and more.
Underground trail:
Central Station, 1000 de la Gauchetière, Place Bonaventure, Place de la Cité internationale-OACI, Place Victoria, World Trade Centre Montréal, Édifice Jacques-Parizeau , Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Guy-Favreau Complex.
Satellite trail:
Arsenal Contemporary Art, Centre d'exposition de l'Université de Montréal, Dawson College Art Gallery, ELLEPHANT, Espace d'exposition Ubisoft, Never Apart, and OBORO.
Access to the exhibition trail and to all festival activities is free of charge, with the exception of the guided visits and the Focus visits.
Art Souterrain is supported by the Ville de Montréal's Bureau des festivals et des événements culturels, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Secrétariat à la région métropolitaine (Québec), and Heritage Canada.
Source: Art Souterrain
For further information: Marie Marais, Press Officer, marais@cooptel.qc.ca / T 1 514 845 2821
