Art Alive
Viva! Art Action Offers Food, Performances You Can Take In
VIVA! Art Action is preparing to run its third edition in Montreal from Oct. 4 to 9.
The biannual art show will be held at the Bain St-Michel and will feature 20 Canadian and international artists. This year, the festival brings events to satisfy all the senses with contemporary artistic performances, DJs and even pre-show suppers.
The show exhibits the rarely-highlighted practice of performance art. Often described as experimental and radical, the art form requires an engagement between the artist and the audience. In a culture where technology has become the primary medium of interpersonal connection, performance art brings us back to the root of human interaction.
VIVA! aims to capture the importance of communication through the physical body. Some works take a more political standpoint, while others will explore themes including memory, identity, physical sensation and the connection between listening and creativity.
Quebec artist Jessica MacCormack will explore the complex position of a cultured society locked in a neoliberal political framework.
Two German-based artists, Eisenächer and Harder Claims, will explore the importance of rituals within a culture through the examination of Haitian voodoo, Brazilian antropofagia (read: cannibalism) and Southern Pacific cargo cults.
To build a better connection between the audience and the artists, VIVA! Art Action will be hosting pre-show suppers.
The meals will be served by French artist SP38, who uses cooking and food in his street art. The suppers are open to everybody, and are a great opportunity to see another side of the performance and the artists themselves.
Expect to be shocked, entertained and to be left with an everlasting impression about this physical art form.
Michelle Lacombe, head organizer for the event and a Concordia alumna, said that the show has “a lot of passion behind it, with great artists and great work. It is a sustainable and meaningful encounter with the art.”
For more information, visit vivamontreal.org
