Shifting who gets a say in art

Les Impostures podcast gives emerging feminist voices space to be heard in their own words

Fringe ArtsFeatureSelena Ruiz — Published November 4, 2025 5 minutes

Even when careers and connections take off, the feeling of uneasiness can take a while to melt away. It can feel almost as if we don’t recognize our successes and live in a parallel universe where our work should not be celebrated. 

But what if we could transform that uneasiness into art itself? 

Since launching Les Impostures in 2021, Concordia University graduate student in art history with a bachelor's in film studies Sidonie Gaulin has highlighted emerging feminist and multidisciplinary artists from diverse cultural backgrounds on her podcast. 

She invites writers, storytellers, visual artists and musicians to share their craft in an alternative interview-style format, one where the guest holds the upper hand. 

Although Gaulin does not consider herself an artist per se, she has built an impressive collection of audio and documentary works over the years. This includes co-founding  Les éditions du Drame in 2022 alongside artists Michèle Barcena-Sougavinski and Jade Bressan, which positions itself as a micro publishing house "dedicated to the promotion of emerging literature through thoughtful encounters.”

“I think it's super important to give opportunities to artists to share and discuss what they do without being interrupted,” Gaulin said. “So many times, we are asked what we do, and we reduce our works to just a few sentences, only going on the surface level of our art.”

Gaulin credits her former sociology professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Myriame Martineau, for inspiring this reflection during a course on feminism and gender dynamics. 

“Women, in all spheres of life, are constantly reducing their accomplishments, especially when it comes to artistic projects,” Martineau said. “It's a continuation of societal habits of women taking the least amount of space in conversations and over-apologizing for no reason.”

Martineau, who goes by the name Myriame El Yamani in the art field, is a French-Moroccan author and storyteller. After what first began as a temporary stay in Canada, El Yamani helped create the Festival internationale du conte et de la parole en Acadie and directed the Maison internationale du conte de Montréal from 2006 to 2012.

She inspired Gaulin to pursue the project and made an appearance in the first episode of Les Impostures’ fifth season, where she discussed her art and arrival in Eastern Canada. El Yamani was also a featured guest at Les Impostures’ fifth season launch event held on Sept. 17 at the La Cenne creative centre in Montreal.

“We were around 70 people, for over an hour and a half, collectively listening to an artist’s full journey, not just as a creator but as a person,” El Yamani said. “The stories, the experiences, the arts. No interruptions or distractions. It was truly inspiring.”

Gaulin considers her podcast a form of sound documentary, rich with sonic elements throughout its episodes. A nature lover at heart, she pairs each guest with a natural element—earth, wind, fire or water—which influences a personalized sound piece composed by different musicians for every episode. 

These compositions blend archival recordings, ambient noises and music to create a space for contemplation and listening within the guest’s world.

In her past work, she asked guests to choose songs that best represented their practice or that they enjoyed at the time. For Gaulin, however, these pieces could never quite reflect what the interviewee truly created.

“I always thought it kind of missed the point, which is why we started having unique pieces made for our guests,” Gaulin said. “The experience is more curated to the artist’s work.”

For Laurence Bidal-Pouliot, who works as an assistant director on Les Impostures and is a documentarist herself, the show has become especially valuable for research, editing and social media management. 

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to develop as a creator here at Les Impostures,” Bidal-Pouliot shared.

While Gaulin hopes her work reaches new audiences, she doesn’t see visibility as the ultimate goal. For her, the project’s value lies in the act of creation itself. By giving space to artists who might not otherwise have a voice, she aims to foster meaningful and open discussions, which she says are rarely found in traditional French-Canadian media. 

She notes, however, that diversity and representation are gradually improving in organizations such as Radio-Canada.

“Representation is important for our marginalized artists, and with traditional media, those voices often end up muffled,” Gaulin said. “Les Impostures gives them a space for a proper, uninterrupted dialogue.”

Although funding for the project proves challenging, as it does not run on advertisements, Les Impostures has also benefited from many governmental grants over the years. It has also recently obtained funding from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts. 

However, as the podcast still needs to strengthen its social media promotion and expand its listenership to guarantee reinvestment, the future of seasons six and seven remains uncertain. 

Gaulin admits that independent projects like hers often rely on passion over profit, and sustaining them long-term requires both creative persistence and community support.

With its growing reach and thoughtful format, Les impostures continues to carve out a place for underrepresented artists in Montreal’s cultural landscape. Each episode opens the door to a different creative universe, one that encourages listeners to pause, reflect and appreciate the process behind the art as much as the final result.

Now in its fifth season, as it enters a new chapter, Les Impostures stands as both a platform and a reminder that art thrives where empathy and curiosity meet. The podcast is available on CHOQ.ca and Apple Podcasts, inviting listeners to tune in, slow down and discover the many voices shaping both local and international art scenes.

A previous version of this article stated that Les Impostures was originally created as a school project. This is incorrect, the podcast began as an independent project. The Link regrets this error.

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 5, published November 4, 2025.