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THE MONTREALCONNECTIONAn emerging international creative hotbed

Sid Loves Montreal - one foot in the old world, one foot in the new - 4

Pole of Creativity - CirQUe dU Soleil - 14

Creativity Montreal - worldS within worldS - 16

Digital Arts - the SoCietY for ArtS And teChnoloGY - 20

Fashion & Design - 22

Videogame Capital - UBiSoft - 26

Urban Art - wAlK thiS wAY - 28

Photography - froM the eYe of CArl leSSArd - 30

Gastronomy - Joe Beef - 36

Gastronomy - MontreAl, CUlinArY CApitAl? - 38

Electronic Music - we CAn dAnCe if we wAnt to - 40

Contemporary Art - reGenerAtion - 42

Contemporary Dance - the lAnGUAGe of loCK - 46

Indie Music - it’S A Zoo oUt there - 48

Comic City - the QUArter for drAwinG - 52

Cinema & Special Effects - the UnKnown MoVie StAr - 44

liStinGS - 56

ONE fOOT IN THE OLd wORLd, ONE fOOT IN THE NEwat tImes dIssonant but more often har-monIously, the phy sIcal and cultural contrasts and counterpoInts that col-lIde, connect and coexIst wIthIn It make montreal a bInary cIty, a place of dIs-tInct dualItIes and a pole of creatIvIty.

SID LOVES MONTREAL

BY Rupert Bottenberg

ONE FOOT IN THE OLD WORLD, ONE FOOT IN THE NEW- 6 -

“Montreal has one foot in North America and the other one in Eu-rope,” says Hélène Godin, creative director and partner at Sid Lee. That’s no small part of why she loves Montreal so much, a passion she sha-res with her colleagues. That’s why we’ve asked her to share it with you, the reader, in these pages.

The polarities abound in Mon-treal. English and French dance around each other as countless eth-nic groups from across the globe mingle in a cosmopolitan kaleidos-cope, in a city small enough to fa-vour footwork and familiarity over driving and distance.

Montreal’s winters, fearsomely cold and snow-caked, alternate with summers of scorching heat and fren-zied freedom. In its Old Port dis-trict, some of the oldest buildings in North America sit side-by-side with the ultra-modern architecture of its digital industry centre.

The inherent tensions of such extreme and eternally unresolved dualities generate an invisible energy, the perfect fuel for the mind and soul of the creative person. Be it in film, music, visual arts, dance, fashion, design, cuisine, architecture or tech-

nology, Montreal provides a perfect environment for ideas and imagina-tions to flourish and bear fruit.

2006 UNESCO selected Mon-treal as an international City of De-sign, a designation Godin helped celebrate with a Sid Lee Collective poster project. A recruiter for Sid Lee, Godin says, “Montreal is both an attractive destination for foreign designers and an excellent, expan-ding pool of talent from right here at home.”

That Montreal, in terms of in-ternational creative relevance, isn’t yet mentioned in the same breath as New York or L.A., Paris or Berlin only means that its artists, perfor-mers and designers remain unres-tricted by expectations in their ex-periments and explorations.

With such freedom, stimulation and energy, it’s no surprise then that so many talented and inspired indi-viduals have made of Montreal not just a residence but a true home.

The magazine that you are hol-ding right now, Sid Lee’s celebration of the city we love so much, showca-ses the brightest lights among them.

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“ expo 67 awakened montreal to the world and changed the face of the cIty forever.” - Hélène Godin

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ONE FOOT IN THE OLD WORLD, ONE FOOT IN THE NEW- 10 -

Montreal’s landscape is peppered with iconic places and structures, spots on the city map that have found their place in Montrealers’ hearts. Hélène Godin, a creative director and partner at Sid Lee—and enthusiastic Mon-treal booster—joins Université de Québec à Montréal’s renowned, even no-torious, design professor Frédéric Metz on a tour to take stock of the city’s most memorable sights.

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the Jacques-cartIer brIdge“Represents not only Montreal but

North America,” says Metz, “the American Dream.”

alexander calder’s “man”A monumental abstract sculpture.

habItat 67Moshe Safdie’s unique

modular housing complex. “Expo 67 awakened Montreal to the world

and changed the face of the city forever,” say Godin.

the bIosphèreOnce the American Pavillion at

Expo 67, the Biosphère is located in Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome.

mont-royal park A favourite spot with squirrels and picnickers alike. The cross,

vestige of Quebec’s Catholic tradition, watches over the city.

boulevard st-laurent and mIle-end A mixed neighbourhood where

English and French blend happily. The exterior staircases are a Mon-

treal trademark. Shop signs are “the visual representation of a people’s

past and character,” says Godin.

the turcot Interchange An ambitious and controversial

structure. “A city must have a bit of everything,” says Godin, “the

daring as well as the lasting.”

fonderIe darlIng An excellent example of successful restoration.

the melvIn charney gardens and cca

The Canadian Centre for Architec-ture is Montreal’s best-kept secret.

st-lawrence graIn sIlosSentinels of the river.

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“ CREATIvE MONTREAL: A gREAT NATuRAL REsOuRCE!” Guy Laliberté foUnder of CirQUe dU SoleilFrom street performer to worldwide Entrepreneur of the Year, Guy Laliberté reinvented the spirit of circus. Since Cirque du Soleil’s inception in 1984, over 80 million spectators have seen its shows.

“ IN MONTREAL, OuR CREATIvE TEAM HAs suCH A gREAT IMA-gINATION THAT I HAd NO CHOICE buT TO jOIN IN THE fuN.” Rémi Racine preSident And exeCUtiVe prodUCer, A2M (Artificial Mind And Movement)Founded in 1992, A2M is a Montreal- based videogame developer specializing in interactive action-adventure games.

“ wITHOuT A dOubT, MONTREAL Is A gLObAL LEAdER IN THE MuLTIMEdIA wORLd, THANks TO ITs IMpREssIvE CRITICAL MAss Of TALENT, wHICH CONTINuALLy CREATEs HIgH-quA-LITy INNOvATIvE pROduCTs.” Stephane D’Astous GenerAl MAnAGer, eidoS-MontreAlMajor video game publisher Eidos chose Montreal and its talented workforce for its new development studio.

“ MONTREAL ALLOws ME TO LOvE. THE CITy ALLOws bE TO bE, TO LIvE, TO CREATE ANd TO HAvE fuN fREELy.ITs dIs-CREET CHARM pLAN-TEd THE sEEd fOR AN EvER-gROwINg LOvE AffAIR.” m0851 For the past 20 years, m0851 has been building a strong global reputation with its high-quality leather bags and unique designs. All are designed, manufactured and managed in Montreal.

“ MONTREAL, REbEL Of THE AMERICAs.” Philippe Dubuc fAShion deSiGner Torcherbearer of the Quebec fashion scene, Dubuc’s collections are presented alongside those of Dior, Hermès, Givenchy, Vuitton and Galliano.

“ MONTREAL: INsTINCTs ANd EMOTIONs.” Normand Laprise Chef And owner of toQUé! Toqué! is one of North America’s top restaurants. Normand Laprise’s warm personality, leadership and unique vision of product-centered cuisine have made him one of the leading figures in Canadian culture and world cuisine.

Montreal seen by… Montreal seen by…

MONTREAL SEEN BY...- 13 -

MONTREAL SEEN BY...- 12 -

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tire evening, showcasing the stadium, fireworks and a ballet of vehicles dancing around the guests. It was spectacular.

how do YoU CoMe Up with All theSe GreAt ideAS? BY GroUpinG toGether All the riGht people? _ Teamwork is always key to a project’s success. To get the ri-ght people together, I work like in Mission Impossible, with a binder full of people at my dis-posal. I turn the pages and se-lect the individuals who meet the event’s needs, whether in projection, performance, food, lighting or sound. It’s my main job, to be able to get the right people together, to have a sense of the energy and craziness that go together.

CirQUe dU Soleil iS A VASt pool thAt MASterfUllY CoMBineS CreAtorS froM All oVer the world. howe-Ver, iS there A MontreAl wAY of doinG thinGS? _ I would say that

supervision, and all around the world: from Toronto, Dubai and Buenos Aires, to Berlin, New York, Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro.

So it’S A SUBSidiArY of CirQUe dU Soleil thAt iS Still not well Known, BUt thAt iS GrowinG with liGhtninG Speed… _ That’s for sure. Ten years ago, this subsi-diary of Cirque promoted only its own shows. It was in Mon-treal that we created a name for ourselves by organizing the fa-mous Grand Prix Formula One parties. Since we were dealing with an international clientele, the news travelled fast. At the same time, event marketing was growing rapidly around the world, and we took advantage of this movement.

YoU Are reSponSiBle for neArlY 100 eVentS per YeAr. whiCh do YoU ConSider A ViCtorY, A Sweet AC-CoMpliShMent? _ We’re always

proud of our latest event, be-cause, we never repeat oursel-ves, we try to outdo ourselves. I would say that this mentality we have of always coming up with something new stems from our leader, Guy Laliberté. Last year’s labour of love was the Fiat event. From the very start, we established a wonderful re-lationship with the people from Fiat, who let us choose the site, the Marble Stadium in Rome, to unveil the new Bravo. We set up in the middle of the stadium for three days, during which we received 3,000 people from everywhere in Europe every evening. To get there, we crea-ted a tunnel so people wouldn’t recognize the location. They would have cocktails, diner and a circus show in the dining room. At the end of the meal, the roof would drop, revealing a sheet measuring 120 metres by 30 metres on which images were projected during the en-

Since its creation in 1984, Cirque du Soleil’s mission is to invoke the imaginary, provoke the senses and evoke emotions in people around the globe. The result? The company founded by Guy Laliberté boasts a criti-cal and financial success, having won the hearts of 80 million spectators and presenting 18 shows on every continent. In all, 4,000 employees, including 1,000 artists from 40 different countries, are hard at work eve-ry day. But that’s not all. This large dream factory also inclu-des an event-marketing sphere, which is not as well known, but is just as spectacular. Interview with Jean-François Bouchard, Director of Event Creation at Cirque du Soleil, the man behind some one hundred or so happenings around the world each year, from the opening of a casino in Macao to a parade fea-turing 70 artists for the Interna-

tionale de Zaragoza exhibition in Spain.

hAVe YoU MAnAGed to Clone YoUr-Self? _ There’s the Jean-François Bouchard, President of Sid Lee, and Jean-François Bouchard, Director of Event Creation at Cirque du Soleil.

It’s funny, because people are often confused. We gave a conference once at the Mon-treal Board of Trade on the same morning. It’s always amusing for people to see that we’re the same age and that we work in si-milar fields.

in ConCrete terMS, whAt doeS YoUr JoB ConSiSt in? whAt doeS A direCtor of eVent CreAtion do At CirQUe dU Soleil? _ I’m in charge of corporate events that promote our own shows as well as large-scale, private turnkey events. We currently have 70 events on the agenda for the coming months, all under my

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL- 14 -

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL- 15 -

CIRquE du sOLEILA UniQUe And CreAtiVe enVironMentBY Sarah Lévesque

POLE OF CREATIVITY

90% of my team is made up of Quebeckers, given the incredible pool of creative talent in Mon-treal. I keep up-to-date about what’s available here, and then if I need anything abroad, I go get it. Despite the combination of dif-ferent nationalities at the Cirque, our Montreal way of thinking always shines through, which is what I believe gives us the ability to equip ourselves with a unique and extraordinary creative envi-ronment. I’ve never come across this type of spirit or way of thin-king elsewhere, even though I’ve worked around the world.

we CAn heAr people SinGinG At the top of their lUnGS in the rooM next door. iS it SoMeone’S BirthdAY? _ No, it’s always like that here. We work in event marketing, so we need to have fun. From Monday to Friday, it’s just crazy around here. ACroBAt froM Corteo, one of CirQUe dU Soleil’S prodUCtionS.

- 17 -WORLDS WITHIN WORLDSWORLDS WITHIN WORLDS

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A BilinGUAl CitY in A frenCh proVinCe in An enGliSh Continent.. . MontreAl’S lAYerS of CUltUre CAn Be peeled BACK to reVeAl worldS Both reAl And iMAGined where the pASt And fUtUre exiSt SiMUltAneoUSlY.

MontreAl’S CUltUrAl lABorAtorY

BY Lucinda Catchlove

wORLds wITHIN wORLds

CREATIVITY MONTREAL

Nowhere is this more evident than along St-Laurent Boule-vard, the street that divides Montreal into East and West, where all the disparate ele-ments that create the city’s character intersect. Bustling with youthful hipsters, debo-nair artists, tattooed musicians and the street’s original Eastern European immigrants and their children, St-Laurent is home to both tradition and innovation. Ex-Centris, Daniel Langlois’ paean to new technologies and creation, contrasts with the traditional Jewish businesses, and chic restaurants and trendy boutiques that sit cheek-to-cheek with gritty dives. Sid Lee sat down at Schwartz’s Delica-tessen, the home of Montreal’s famous smoked meat sandwich since 1928, to discuss Montreal as a creative city with UQAM professor Nicolas Reeves, cho-reographer Manon Oligny, desi-

gner Renata Morales and artist Carlito Dalceggio.

Speaking in tongues“I’ve never thought about the issue of two languages in res-pect to creative potential,” says Reeves, who is distinctly Que-becois even if born in upstate New York. “But it’s clear that the interactions between the two cultures create zones of friction, zones of tension, and that tension can in turn create an energy which can potenti-ally develop in creative ways.” He also points to Montreal’s Allophones—immigrants who-se mother tongue is neither English nor French—as a rich source of cultural renewal and vibrancy. Renata Morales, her-self an immigrant from Mexico via France, can speak directly about coming to live in a bicul-tural city. “I found the prospect of adapting to two cultures dif-

- 18 - - 19 -WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS

ferent and very interesting. It’s really very rich as a city and as a culture.”

Carlito Dalceggio, a native Montrealer who embodies the city’s bohemian aspects and draws upon a global palate of cultures in his work and many collaborations, sees this ability to speak in many tongues as a means to access deeper cultural conduits. “I think every lan-guage brings its own channel of creation,” he says, tapping into the mystical and magical aspects of the city. Conversely, Manon Oligny—who is also a native of Montreal—finds inspiration in being alone in a context where she can explore the many as-pects of communication that exist beyond words. “Creation is a personal act, a solitary act for me wherever I am,” she ex-plains. “In my work, I often seek to put myself in contexts where I don’t understand the langua-ge. When you don’t understand

the language, it can have a very stimulating effect on your level of creation.”

Creative contamination“Even if the act of creation is solitary,” the location is impor-tant, asserts Reeves, who be-lieves that the fluid nature of Montreal society allows for a special fusion and collaboration between disciplines.“Because the social structure here is much less hierarchal and com-partmentalized than Paris or London, it permits transdis-ciplinary practices to develop much more easily.”

With artists and academics supported by private and go-vernment investment for colla-borative research, Montreal has become a laboratory where art, science and philosophy fuse.

The idea of cross-cultural contamination and openness to innovation, of an organic evolution that embraces and

integrates diversity and forms of communication, is central to Montreal’s creative and acade-mic communities. But for cul-ture to be effective, for meaning and memes to contaminate and spread, it must travel beyond the context of the laboratory. All agree that travel and inter-national exposure are crucial; not only to survive as professio-nal creators but also to ensure that Quebec’s artists rise to an international caliber of excel-lence. They point to how Mon-treal’s current creative vibrancy is a result of investment in the arts, public and private support, and the recognition of the social and commercial importance of culture.

In this crucible of time, ton-gues, territory and technology, Montreal’s culture burns bri-ghtly. “There’s a passion for life transmitted here that’s hard to quantify,” concludes Dalceggio. It is this ineffable and intangible aspect of Montreal, this passion that contaminates everyone and everything, that makes Mon-treal into a grand cultural expe-riment quite unlike anywhere else in the world.

CARLITO dALCEggIOA painter and nomadic crea-tive shaman, Carlito Dalceg-gio’s flair for the dramatic is as evident in the construction of his own colorful character as in his work. Rich in references that range from Modernism to Ancient Egyptian art, his large canvases are an explosion of vi-brancy and movement that cap-ture the pure romance of pain-ting. Equally renowned for his “happenings” —mesmerizing, chaotic rituals incorporating music, dance and visual art—he frequently collaborates with other artists and companies such as Cirque du Soleil.

MANON OLIgNyArtistic director and choreo-grapher Manon Oligny explo-res and exalts intimacy in her work with a direct and carnal excessive ness that saturates her dance with drama, intensity and raw physicality. She often engages in cross-disciplinary collaborations and has wor-ked with writer Nelly Arcan, as well as Wajdi Mouawad, Claude Poissant, Jean Salvy, Pierre Bernard, Serge De-noncourt and Denis Bernard. Her residencies have taken her to Tunisia and Portugal.

RENATA MORALEsA fashion designer and visual ar-tist renowned for her innovative use of fabrics and techniques, Renata Morales creates clothes that are simultaneously elegant and confrontational. Her Mon-treal boutique is a riot of color and texture, with fabrics wo-ven, pleated and constructed in unconvention al ways to beau-tiful effect. Morales’ paintings also reflect this fusion of the pretty and the shocking, and ex-press a powerful femininity that asserts its originality with a de-ceptively naïve sophistication.

NICOLAs REEvEsAn architect, physicist and artist, Nicolas Reeves busies himself inventing the art of the future. Scientific Director of Hexagram and Vice President of Société des Arts Technologiques, he’s also a professor at the department of de-sign at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where he heads the NXI GESTATIO laboratory for research and creation in computer science, architecture and design. Reeves creates sculptures that explore complex systems and the territory where art, science, natu-re and technology converge.

Ask a devotee of the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) to describe the organization and you could easily get lost in the sea of words that ensues. “Abo-ve all else, we are a centre for re-search and creation in the field of digital art,” explains its dyna-mic founder and general mana-ger Monique Savoie. The SAT’s physical space is an enormous open play area that extends over two stories in which its creative staff use new technologies, then produce and broadcast their work. The reason for this is ob-vious. “It’s a lot easier to see or hear digital art than to explain it. That’s why the SAT is open to the public, and presents ins-tallations and shows — so that digital art can be experienced first-hand.”

In total, 240 events, eve-ning performances, launches and avant-garde expositions take place at the SAT each year. In other words, the place is hopping. When we were there,

some filming was taking place on the first floor. Up stairs, a group of diligent work er bees were parked at their computers. In a closed room, some teena-gers in for a summer session were learning the technologies used by VJs and DJs. At the back of the building, artist-in-residence Yan Breuleux was fi-ne-tuning an installation of six plasma screens for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. Next to him, Luc Courchesne was working on his 360-de-gree Panoscope, an immersive screen that had just come back from a museum in Beijing, China. The creation of the Panoscope recently prompt-ed Virgin Galactic to order a Panodome, which simulates voyages through space and was presented at the Espace Louis Vuitton gallery in Paris.

Although the SAT serves Montrealers in a million differ-ent ways, it was created in the wake of an international fo-rum, the International Sympo-sium on Electronic Art (ISEA), in 1995. “For many people, this event was the beginning of a movement. Montreal got on board immediately by bringing people together from all over the world that very year. We are in constant contact with different partners in Finland, Sweden, Catalonia and the east coast of the U.S., with 30% of our clients in New York and Boston. V2, a centre for uns-table media, is on the verge of opening in the Netherlands.

THE soCIETy fOR ARTs ANd TECH- NOLOgyplUGGed into the fUtUreteChno CirCUS / diGitAl GAMeSBY Sarah Lévesque

www.sat.qc.ca

DIGITAL ARTS

THE SOCIETY FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY- 20 -

THE SOCIETY FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY- 21 -

deVelopped in pArt At the SAt, the Cyclorama iS An AppArAtUS for CreAtinG iMMerSiVe AUdioViSUAl enVironMentS on A lArGe SCAle. thiS one iS ArS nAtUrA, A perMAnent interACtiVe inStAllAtion in the SQUAre ViCtoriA Metro StAtion. it offerS VirtUAl ACCeSS to MontreAl’S SCienCe MUSeUMS: the BiodoMe, inSeCtAriUM, BotAniCAl GArden, And plAnetAriUM.

- 22 - - 23 -FASHION & DESIGNFASHION & DESIGN

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SoMe people liVe to worK, BUt Mon-treAlerS worK to liVe. And SinCe theY liKe to liVe in StYle, MontreAlerS CAn Be VerY SeleCtiVe ABoUt the fAShion, ACCeSSorieS, fUrnitUre And hoMe deCor theY BUY—not to Mention thoSe theY deSiGn. here’S A rApid-fire, flAShCArd looK At SoMe MontreAl CreAtorS MAKinG wAVeS with their innoVAtion And CrAftSMAnShip.BY Rupert Bottenberg

FASHION & DESIGN

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UBISOFT- 27 -

One simply has to list the number of video game studios in Montreal to see how this industry has grown in the city. There’s the American Electro-nic Arts and Javaground, the British Eidos, the French Ubisoft and Cyanide, in addition to the A2M offices. In the industry, reference is openly made to a new El Dorado, a true North American hub. In October 2007, the French newspaper Libé-ration wrote a highly praising headline that read: “Montreal, Video Game Capital.” A few facts ex-plain the creation of a favourable environment for multi media publishers and design studios.

“We were the first to arrive in Montreal in the gaming universe,” said Patrick Désilets, Crea-tive Director at Ubisoft. But the introduction of new players makes the industry even more dyna-mic and competitive.” We have to say that the Quebec government played an important role by creating a tax credit program to encourage jobs in this field. Many had a sense of this growing busi-ness as early as the year 2000. And given Ubisoft’s success, no one ever questioned the existence of a qualified and creative workforce. The city’s dif-ferent universities also met with Ubisoft in order to offer a specialized curriculum adapted to the job market.

Let us recall that two companies greatly fa-voured the presence of programmers, computer specialists and expert creators. Created by Que-beckers in the 1990s, Discreet and Softimage marked this era by creating an innovative digital technology. Founded in 1986 by Daniel Langlois, Softimage revolutionized the industry by crea-ting 3D animation software that facilitates the creative process while decreasing production costs. In 1994, when Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park propelled the company into the top position worldwide, Langlois sold Softimage to Microsoft. It is now owned by Avid Technologie. Discreet, now called Autodesk, was also sold to a US firm in 1999. Today, in 2008, Montreal continues to reap the benefits of all those years of research and ex-pertise, making it a unique playground.

ubI-sOfT life iS liKe A Video GAMe:MiSSion ACCoMpliShedBY Sarah Lévesque

At the end of the very lively Saint-Viateur Street is a five-storey building. A simple, strong, yet natu-ral presence. In bright letters: Ubisoft. Although when it opened in 1997 the French video game de-sign studio – the headquarters are in France – took up only one of the storeys in this brick build ing, things are no longer the same today. From 10 em-ployees in its first week of business, Ubisoft Mon-treal now counts 2,000 staff members, which is 1,500 more than its second largest office, located in Shanghai. Today, every inch of this high-securi-ty building is inhabited by the company. How can such success be explained?

“Let’s just say there was a before and an af-ter Splinter Cell,” said Patrice Désilets, Creative Director and employee since day one of Ubisoft Montreal. At the beginning, the Montreal stu-dio developed only children’s games. In 2001, the launching of Splinter Cell, an infiltration game ins-pired by Tom Clancy novels, revealed the studio’s abilities. “We designed a very realistic and organic military spy game, with plays on lights and sha-dows, qualities which had never before been seen on the market. And our timing was good, too. For the first six months, Splinter Cell worked only on the new Xbox. People were buying it to show their friends the capabilities of the game console.” Mis-sion accomplished, since Splinter Cell’s success was both critically and commercially acclaimed.

The Montreal touchFor all employees of the Montreal studio, the spirit behind their bilingual city was in part responsible for this success. “There’s a Mon-treal flavour to most of our games. Yesterday, a prominent Japanese video game design studio came to visit,” said storyboard artist Wayne A. Murray. According to him, “Our games have so-mething North American and European about them.” Patrick Désilets added that his latest project, Assassins Creed, which was one of the bestselling Playstation 3 games in 2007 (more than six million copies in six months), takes pla-ce during a complete medieval crusade, with an expert assassin as the main character. “I think only Montrealers could come up with such a sce-nario based on religious war, given the current context.” Nearly 300 employees worked on the game for four years, during which period a king-dom, three cities, 200 characters and 10,000 animations were designed.

Montreal’s Ubisoft studio moves to its own rhythm and its own habits, according to the ci-ty’s bohemian lifestyle. For example, having the interview run over into lunchtime was not an op-tion. At precisely 12 o’clock noon, Saint-Viateur Street, which already attracts a variety of artists, is bursting with programmers and animators making their way to sandwich shops other ca-fés to grab a bite to eat. This close relationship with Mile End is so important to Désilets that, in 2007, he organized an outdoor event to ce-lebrate Ubisoft’s 10 years of existence. The re-sult? With the Pop Montreal music festival, the Fantasia film festival and the help of local mer-chants, Ubisoft closed Saint-Viateur Street on 5 blocks and offered a variety of activities during the entire day. Another success, given the 25,000 people who attended.

This success has enabled the company to always see bigger, to go further beyond. The new challenge? With the acquisition of Hybrid Tech-nologies in the summer of 2008, the company now wants to specialize in special effects and to get in-volved in the film industry. “Developing this type of technology will enable us to get ready for the new generation of game consoles.” But don’t ask any more questions, Désilets and Murray are wor-king on projects that will remain top secret until their launch date.

MontreAl: QUite the plAYGroUnd

VIDEOGAME CAPITAL

Altair iS the MAin ChArACter in ASSASSin’S Creed, CreAted BY MontreAl’S UBiSoft StUdio. More thAn 7 Million CopieS hAVe Been Sold SinCe itS releASe in noVeMBer 2007.

- 28 - - 29 -WALK THIS WAYWALK THIS WAY

gRAffITI REsEARCH LAb MONTREALGRL’s motto is “urban commu-nication for urban commandos,” and they’re on a mission to tag the cities of the world with li-ght. Using video projections, the Montreal cell uses the city’s surfaces as a canvas on which to project ephemeral graffiti. To achieve their mission they’ve built a “Weapon of Mass De-facement,” aka a custom bike trailer complete with integra-ted sound system, video projec-tion and FM broadcasting (and powered by a deep cell battery system). GRL bomb the city with eye-opening light!

www.graffitiresearchlab.ca

Hvw8 pROduCTIONsHVW8 is a design house, a crew of promotional gurus and all-round stylin’ peeps around town (that would be both Montreal and LA) that was founded in 1998 (the LA gallery opened in 2005). They were the first crew of local graffiti artists to take

their show on the road and re-present Montreal’s writers on an international level (and to also work within the realms of fine art). HVW8 artists include the brilliant Gene ‘Starship’ Pen-don, Dan ‘DSTRBO’ Buller and Tyler ‘Ty G’ Gibney (who holds down the fort in LA).

www.HVW8.com

dARE-dAREDare-Dare is a Centre de dif-fusion d’art multidisciplinaire de Montréal, meaning they get up to all kinds of strange and arty things all over the place. From public interventions like gue-rilla camping to creative colla-borations that take art out of the gallery and onto the streets, Dare-Dare is an artist-run cen-tre that supports the city’s art-ists who refuse to be contained by four white walls.

www.dare-dare.org

uNdER pREssuRE Montreal’s International Graf-fiti Convention, Under Pres-sure, first hit the streets (and the walls) in 1995 and has been going full blast ever since. The festival attracts writers from the US and Europe, and serves as a yearly nexus for local hip hop artists (from writers through DJs and breakers, and stretching stylisti-cally from hip hop into dubstep and beyond).

underpressure.com

subv bOuTIquEThis store/gallery sells toys, art and gear for and by aesthetically advanced street artists.

www.subv.net

Montrealers are pretty blasé about the art and advertising that vividly vies for our attention on the vertical surfaces of the ur-ban landscape. It took art appea-ring literally on the streets over-night to stop us in our tracks. Suddenly a yellow crosswalk was transform ed into a row of candles or a giant footprint, traf-fic lines mysteriously morphed into heartbeat monitor rhythms or a gigantic zipper. These cheeky public works were all created by Roadsworth (aka Peter Gibson), a Montreal-based artist/activist/musician who started using spray paint and stencils to subvert the orderly iconography of Mon-treal’s roads in 2001 (initially by creating guerilla bike paths around the city).

“There’s a community spirit that’s possible here,” says Gib-son about Montreal. “Because it’s on a more human scale, you feel more of a personal attach-ment than in a bigger, more im-personal kind of city. You feel you have a right and the space is as much yours as it is the city’s.” Even though Montrealers were delighted by Roadsworth’s aesthetic interventions, city of-ficials frowned upon such public mischief and illicit roadwork. Caught “yellow handed” in 2004, Gibson faced monumental fines and possible incarceration but, by the time his case went to trial in 2006, public support for his work had left an indelible mark on City Hall. Surprisingly, the artist was ordered to undertake 40 hours of community service doing exactly what had gotten him into trou-ble—creating public art.

Since making peace with City Hall, Roadsworth has stee-red his creativity along more legal avenues to increasing internatio-nal acclaim. Last May, he exhibi-ted alongside Banksy and Shepard Fairey, giants of street art and art world darlings, at the London

roAdSworth pAVeS the wAY for pUBliC ArtBY Lucinda Catchlove

Cans Festival in the UK. He’s also realized commissions for Cirque du Soleil, Earth Day ’06 and ’07, Darling Foundry, Ecole Lambert Closse and, of course, Sid Lee. Roadsworth’s art continues to surprise, delightfully provoking thought about public space that are both pedestrian and para-mount. “Personally, I feel that public space should reflect the people who occupy it,” explains Gibson. “There’s much more to people occupying a city than di-rections and advertising.”

www.roadsworth.com

BY the tiMe hiS CASe went to triAl in 2006, pUBliC SUpport for hiS worK hAd left An indeliBle MArK on CitY hAll. SUrpriSinGlY, the ArtiSt wAS ordered to UndertAKe 40 hoUrS of CoMMUnitY SerViCe doinG exACtlY whAt hAd Gotten hiM into troUBle - CreAt inG pUBliC Art.

wALk THIs wAy

URBAN ART



From the eye of

Carl Les-sardask photographer carl lessard to descrIbe hIs style, and he’s got one word for you: tImeless. sure, you mIght raIse an eyebrow over the term, whIch ImplIes aspIratIons bIgger than nature Itself, but a mere glance at hIs photos wIll take you through tIme, beyond the decades and ages. orIgInally from montreal, thIs InternatIonally renowned photographer has more than 20 years of experIence wor-kIng In dIfferent areas, IncludIng campaIgns (such as lancôme), fashIon photography and human portraIts, whIch always reveal a unIque sIde of hIs subJects. some of the people he’s photogra-phed are the dalaI lama, nelson mandela, luc plamondon, celIne dIon and robert lepage.

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NOM DE LA SECTION- 32 - - 33 -

FROM THE EYE OF CARL LESSARD

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- 34 -NOM DE LA SECTION

- 35 -FROM THE EYE OF CARL LESSARD

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- 36 -NOM DE LA SECTION

- 37 -JOE BEEF

At the urging of patrons and clients, in 2005, Da-vid McMillan and Frédéric Morin rented a locale in Little Burgundy, an emerging neighborhood off the beaten paths of downtown and the Plateau district. Their challenge was to establish a small dining room for about 35 patrons, charming and intimate, somewhere between a pub, a bistro and a neighborhood restaurant. “It was a risky ven-ture for Montreal. We were the very first to open a little space like that. Now, of course, there are plenty around.”

The name they chose for this first restaurant of their own was Joe Beef. An icon of the 19th cen-tury, the surly yet generous Irish Montrealer ran a legendary tavern, the basement of which housed a menagerie that included foxes, bears and cougars. The story of this simple and honest man seemed the ideal emblem for a cuisine without fanfare, straightforward and tasty, avoiding at all costs the artifice of nouvelle cuisine, the blending of improbable ingredients. Their specialties would be meats served rare, fish and shellfish. During their interview, the two men answer the phone to take reservations themselves while snacking on avocado and cubed beef, aged for tenderness and cooked rare, ready in a flash.

“We’re cultivating an informal aesthetic. Fred and I, we like it up north, in Bas du Fleuve, going to the chalet. We hand-built our restaurant, finding chairs here and there. I like greeting peo-ple in my everyday clothes, without a table d’hôte on the menu. We always serve quality products, healthy food, but we don’t brag about where the food we cook comes from. For us, it goes without saying. Above all, we don’t want to romanticize

SiMplY CooKinGdAVid MCMillAn And frédériC Morin

jOE bEEfBY Sarah Lévesque

what we’re doing, tell Monet stories,” grins Mc-Millan, making light of restaurateurs whose me-nus are clogged with details about the history of every carrot they serve.

Frankness is a key word for the pair who run Joe Beef, so much so that they won’t hesitate to come back at clients who lack respect. McMillan once had words with a Vancouver woman, a food critic, who sniffed that the skillet-seared foie gras wasn’t warm enough. “With us, the custo-mer isn’t always right. But if they’re willing to adapt, we’re ready to give them our all.” In 2006, American magazine Gourmet published a special edition on Montreal, and in its wake, a horde of publications—Maclean’s, Saveur, Food&Wine Magazine—set down in town and heralded the quality and affordability of its restaurants. Nee-dles to say, Joe Beef received its fair share of the spotlight.

The story continues—to the left of Joe Beef, the pair have opened a sandwich shop and wine bar, the McKeirnan. On the right side, they ope-ned last year another restaurant in the spirit of Joe Beef, the Liverpool House. Its name recalls Joe Beef’s direct competition in the 1800s, a Pro-testant establishment which served the captains of the English boats, while Beef served his fellow Catholics. Behind the three spaces, a scaled-down garden and a patio for summertime. “We can have, in the same room, a table of Italians, two Jews from Côte-St-Luc over there, French-spea-king Quebecois next to them, some West Island Anglos in running shoes and musicians from New York who are passing through. You have the be a chameleon to run a dining room like that. That’s Montreal. It’s beautiful.”

“with US, the CUStoMer iSn’t AlwAYS riGht. BUt if theY’re willinG to AdApt, we’re reAdY to GiVe theM oUr All.”

GASTRONOMY

NOM DE LA SECTION- 38 - - 39 -

MONTREAL, CULINARY CAPITAL?

While some, like American magazine Gourmet, believe that to be true, others will highlight a thousand and one spots in the city without mentioning any evident culinary identity. The city’s menus have changed dramatically in the last 15 years, and to hear many young chefs say it, one man is largely responsible for the re-newal. Normand Laprise and the kitchens of his restaurant Toqué! were a unique school due to the exceptional skills, creativity and bounty of quality local foods found there. For Frédé-ric Morin, now chef at restaurant Joe Beef, it was illuminating. “Laprise showed us a way of doing things. All of us who worked at Toqué! know our local products, can preserve them, can prepare fish and meats, and know how to season them.” Irrefutable proof of Toqué!’s gastronomic standards lies in its placing among the select club of the chain Relais & Château’s Relais Gourmands.

Mon-treaL, Culinary capital?

norMAnd lApriSe And the KitChenS of hiS reStAUrAnt toQUé! were A UniQUe SChool dUe to the exCeptionAl SKillS, CreAtiVitY And BoUntY of QUA-litY loCAl foodS foUnd there.

Martin Picard, owner of the restaurant Au Pied de Cochon, Stelio Perombelon at Les Cons Servent, Frédéric Morin and David McMillan at Joe Beef and the Liverpool House are stand-outs among the many who’ve come from learn-ing with Laprise. The result is, since 2000, an abundance of neighbourhood restaurants of-fering highly original fare. The whereabouts of a number are treasured like tightly-held secrets, as much for their menus as for their wine cards, places like Pop, Le Bouchonné, Bu, La Montée de Lait and Les Cons Servent. This fondness for regional foods, from Lac Brome duck to Le Pied de Vent cheese from the Madeleine Islands, has started several chefs on a return to the source, a revisiting of typical Quebecois cuisine—something that would have elicited howls just a few years ago.

The standard bearer in this realm is doubt-lessly Pied de Cochon’s Martin Picard, who’s brought the dishes of grannies and regional diners back into favour. Thus poutine—the emblematic junk food of Quebec, composed of fries, curd cheese and gravy—is refashio-ned with foie gras and wine sauce at Pied de Cochon, or with lobster and white sauce at the chic Garde Manger. The idea had enough im-pact to grab the attention of the international press, including the New York Times. Culinary capital or not, Montreal has succeeded in its task—attracting a following from home and abroad for it s audacious and diverse cuisine.

CUlinArY CApitAl or not, MontreAl hAS SUCCeeded in itS tASK— AttrACtinG A fol-lowinG froM hoMe And ABroAd for itS AUdACioUS And diVerSe CUiSine.

GASTRONOMY

viding them with their own playground, Sona (1996), DJ supply store DNA Records and the Turbo label. In 1998, the NYC DJ/producer upped the ante when he opened Stereo, which featured a 7.1 surround sound system and sprung dance floor, stepping up Montrealers’ obsession with sound quality. Speaker freakers and freaks for speakers alike love Mutek. The annual festival, which grew out

of the FCMM’s Media Lounge into an event of international stature beloved by artists, has been taking electronic music, high fidelity sound and art se-riously since 2000.

The art of noiseWhich leads us to what really sets Montreal apart—we’re not afraid to put some head into our hedonism and take a few risks. We’re a bunch of smart asses who take our disco dancing se-riously, to say nothing of our love affair with experimental music as exemplified by festi-vals like Mutek, Elektra and Victoriaville. Even when we’re being glamorously superficial and wearing our sunglasses at night, we’re clever and take this dance music business se-riously—as proven by the well-

earned, international success of Turbo and the endurance of the I Love Neon events (which started in 1999, and now re-side at SAT). On the flip side, Montreal is also home to the North American headquarters of Ninja Tune Records (which signed local hip hoppers Ghis-lain Poirier, Sixtoo and Kid Koala), Alien8 (which released David Kristian’s acclaimed am-bient album Cricklewood and the adventurous work of Tim Hec-ker) and strange little labels like Oral and NoType that push the boundaries between music and noise. All these diverse influen-ces and interests combine with Montreal’s natural joie de vivre to create a unique environment for electronic music, whether it’s decadent dance music or avant-garde experimentation.

wE CAN dANCE If wE wANT TO

we’re A BUnCh of SMArt ASSeS who tAKe oUr diSCo dAnCinG SerioUSlY, to SAY nothinG of oUr loVe AffAir with experiMentAl MUSiC, AS exeMplified BY feStiVAlS liKe MUteK, eleKtrA And ViCtoriAVille.

Montreal at night is a city of gla-mour and debauch, of seduction and nocturnal desires. Since US prohibition in the 1920s, and again during the disco daze of the 70s, our fair city has long been a favourite destination for dancing and decadence. A 24-hour party city offering a never-ending orgy of disco and dissolution (and dance floor re-demption), we’ve got more legal after-hours clubs than you can shake a glo-stick at (and plenty of quasi-legal parties for those in the know), bars galore pimp-ing a wide variety of beats, and a remarkably dense roster of electronic music artists, labels and festivals that have locals and visitors alike dancing in the streets. We even take our kids to dance to the thumpety-thump of the world’s best DJs at Piknic

Electronik at Parc Jean-Drapeau on a Sunday afternoon.

From disco to digitalOut of the disco of the 70s and Montreal’s vibrant gay scene, emerged an illegal, after-hours warehouse scene in the late 80s. This gave rise to Montreal’s first legal after-hours club in 1994, Playground, as well as house music labels like Bom-bay and producers like Miguel Graça, and the massive Black & Blue circuit party. Meanwhile, a whole other type of dance music was exploding out of Bri-tain: raves first hit Montreal in the early 90s when Tiga and The Bus Company threw Rave 1001 and Solstice 1993, kicking off Tiga’s domination of Mon-treal techno. Tiga nourished Montreal’s techno babies, pro-

WE CAN DANCE IF WE WANT TO- 41 -

WE CAN DANCE IF WE WANT TO- 40 -

A Brief hiStorY of eleCtroniC MUSiC in MontreAlBY Lucinda Catchlove

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- 43 -REGENERATION

- 42 -REGENERATION

RE- gENER-ATIONthe QUeBeC trienniAl: nothinG iS loSt, nothinG iS CreAted, eVerYthinG iS trAnSforMedBY Lucinda Catchlove

The tagline of the inaugural Quebec Triennial by Montreal’s Musée d’art contemporain (MACM) is apt for this ambi-tious exhibition that establishes 38 contemporary artists from across Quebec as the province’s most important at this moment in time. The Triennial serves as a snapshot, capturing the vibrant and healthy state of Quebec’s contemporary art scene, while simultaneously preserving the work by acquiring many of the pieces for MACM’s collection.

Featuring many of Mont-real’s most interesting contem-porary artists, though excluding many equally deserving and ta-lented creators, the exhibition points to a rich diversity and strength of individual expression emerging from the city, rather than a single aesthetic or direc-tion. “These artists live in the city but it’s not work that represents the city,” explains Paulette Ga-gnon, Chief Curator at MACM, saying that the curatorial team focused on the quality of work by the artists chosen for this inau-gural Triennial. “I think we see an international level of work.”

Of the Montreal artists in the exhibition, David Altmejd,

undeniably has the highest in-ternational profile (though Julie Doucet is perhaps more widely notorious for her graphic no-vels). Chosen to represent Ca-nada at the 52nd Venice Biennial in 2007, Altmejd’s beautifully monstrous sculptural creatures, which embody motifs of decay and regeneration in forms that evoke science and mythology, have found homes in many major collections, including that of the Guggenheim Museum. Though Altmejd now resides primarily in New York and is represen-ted by the Andrea Rosen Gal-lery, he started out exhibiting in Montreal galleries like Skol and Galerie Clarke, which serve as the rich soil that nurtures local artists.

Gagnon believes it’s the combination of Montreal’s artis-tic community and galleries, and the public support for the arts that provides an environment where artists can explore and de-velop their own distinct visions and voices. “Montreal is a cultu-ral city,” says Gagnon. “Culture is more important to people than perhaps money and business.” But culture doesn’t exist apart from the rest of the world and by committing to support Quebec’s artists through the Triennial and acquiring their works, MACM is transforming Montreal’s cultu-ral landscape.

www.macm.orgwww.andrearosengallery.com

CONTEMPORARY ART

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raphaëlle de groot mIchel de broIn doyon-rIvest adrIan norvId romeo gongora

REGENERATION- 45 -

REGENERATION

parisian LaundryThis airy and bright contem-porary art gallery in St-Henri is a welcome addition to Mon-treal’s private gallery and commercial art scene. Gallery Director Jeannie Riddle has a keen eye for talent and passion for painting. A painter herself, she’s short-listed for the 2008 RBC Canadian Painting Com-petition, alongside PL artist Rick Leong. Sculptor Valérie Blass, who was chosen to par-ticipate in MACM’s Quebec Triennial, will be exhibiting at PL in October.

phoebe green-bergDHC/Arts Founder/Director Phoebe Greenberg became Mon treal’s most prominent and generous patron of the arts when she opened the doors of the not-for-profit, charitable arts foundation in the Old Port in October 2007. The foundation helped finance the presentation of David Altmejd’s The Index at the Venice Biennale and is as de-dicated to exhibiting exciting, international contemporary ar-tists in Montreal and raising the level of internationalism in the city, as it is to supporting local artists on the world stage.

fonderie darling/quartier ÉphémèreThis old factory in Old Mon-treal’s industrial area has been transformed into a beauti-ful and vibrant centre for art. Housing Quartier Éphémère’s offices, artist studios, two gal-leries and the Cluny Artbar (in-famous for their culinary arts and caterers to the Montreal art world), the organization also focuses on providing artist residencies for Quebec artists abroad and international artists in Montreal.

Mon-trEal biennale The Montreal Biennale has consistently gathered an edgy collection of international and Canadian artists since its inau-gural exhibition in 1998. The 2009 BNL MTL, which takes place from May 1-31, is titled “Open Culture.” Curated by Creative Director Scott Bur-nham, the 2009 Biennale will investigate and present open models of creation that blur the of boundaries between artist, audience and environment. It is an open, fluid concept that promises opportunities for ar-tists to act as catalysts for parti-cipation and engagement in an innovative manner.

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its well-known ambassadors ce-lebrated in the area of contempo-rary dance is Montrealer Margie Gillis, who is still performing in 2008, and who toured with the famous diva Jessye Noman. The Marie Chouinard dance company also made its mark through its rendition of The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, as well as through its latest creation, Body/Remix, which uses diffe-rent accessories such as prosthe-ses and crutches, and which was presented in 2007 at the Venice Biennale. And let’s not forget Paul André Fortier’s solo dance performance in 30x30 in En-gland, France and Japan, and in Montreal and Ottawa, Canada, in situ, often right in the middle of downtown. Thirty minutes for 30 days, regardless of the weather. An audacious perfor-mance aimed at democratizing contemporary dance. Also, in order to boost the public’s zeal for the performing arts, Mon-treal’s Festival TransAmériques showcases avant-garde dance and theatre creations from here and abroad.

Creative theatre is also going strong, despite the lan-guage barrier. Robert Lepage, a

faithful resident of Quebec City, together with his company, Ex Machina, is revolutionizing the traditional world of theatre in his own way, through his audacious screenplays in which a washing machine becomes a space por-thole, an ironing board, a bicy-cle. Lepage also doses the roles played by actors through an interpretation that some have referred to as cinematographic and far beyond theatrical ex-travagances. For Quebec City’s 400th anniversary, Lepage, an expert in new technologies, de-veloped the Image Mill, a multi-media projection on the grain silos in the Port of Quebec City. The presentation, whose screenplay was written by Phil Meunier, Executive Director of Creation at Sid Lee, tells the tale of the city’s history. While these works were travelling around the globe, Robert Lepage was awarded distinctions such as a Golden Mask in Russia for the Best Foreign Production for The Anderson Project, and the very prestigious Prix Europe from the Festival de l’Union des Théâtres de l’Europe in 2007 for his theatrical work.

ÉdOuARdLOCk

“It’s this idea of the non-func-tionality of the body that brou-ght me to choreography. The routine motions we subject it to have much more to do with communication—our opinions, our impressions, in short, our entire identity.”

It was while studying liter-ature in 1970 that Montrealer Édouard Lock, born to a Spa-nish mother and Moroccan father, discovered dance, the language of gestures. This re-velation propelled him toward a distinctive approach, and he

quickly fashioned his own bo-dily lexicon. His style became an intricacy of gestures, a quic-kness in the arm movements suggesting the appendages of insects. Also present is the dimension of the unknown. “There’s a mystery to a body in motion,” says Lock. “An intri-guing situation is created when the body, through the rapidity and detail of its movements, communicates a complexity that is difficult to understand. It opens a window on a shadowy area of the human being.”

Since the 1980s, Lock’s sin-gular, signature style has spread across the globe by way of his dance company La La La Hu-man Steps, and thanks also to his star dancer, an icon of the ’80s and ’90s, a rebellious figure with jagged blonde hair named Louise Lecavalier. Lock’s rising profile finds him flirting with the sphere of pop culture, a ra-rity in his milieu. He designed David Bowie’s Sound & Vision tour, the Frank Zappa show The Yellow Shark with the Contem-porary Ensemble of Frankfurt, worked with Carole Laure on a music video, with Iggy Pop and with Kevin Shields of My Bloo-

dy Valentine. “I never believed that one needed music to dance. I thus sought out dialogues with artists I didn’t consider first and foremost pop. They’re all remo-ved from the norm.”

Lock doesn’t like to repeat himself. His last creation, 2007’s Amjad, reveals a new marriage, that of classical and contem-porary dance, something that would have been inconceivable in the 1980s. Hints of this have been present in his work since 1998, and in fact Lock began in this direction as early as his efforts in 1987 for the Natio-nal Ballet of Holland. Amjad, drawing on Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, pushes the reinter-pretation of classic themes fur-ther yet, radicalizing them even. “It’s rare that dance touches on memories, on the archetypes of the collective imagination. That was the case for these two works. So I was working with established icons, a big task for contemporary choreography.” With his leather jacket and black accoutrements, Lock’s clearly not done questioning and even challenging, not with words but with motions.

the language of lock

But, as demonstrated by Édouard Lock and his company, La La La Human Steps, more often than not, choreographers and dancers are required to for-ge ties around the globe, within a vast network of international festivals and theatres. The re-sult? Their presence and original creations have given Montreal its enviable reputation. Among

Living ARTwIth 400,000 specta-tors and more than 3,000 dancers and ac-tors, contempor ary dance and creatIve theatre Is a dynamIc and effervescent Industry In quebec.

BY Sarah Lévesque

THE LANGUAGE OF LOCK- 46 -

THE LANGUAGE OF LOCK- 47 -

CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Édouard Lock GAVe A ConteMporArY Spin to the trAditionAl Swan Lake of tChAiKoVSKY.

- 48 - - 49 -IT’S A ZOO OUT THEREIT’S A ZOO OUT THERE

the MUSiCAl fAUnA of MontreAl’S Mile-end neiGhBoUrhoodBY Rupert Bottenberg

After touring with U2, jamming with David Bowie in New York City’s Central Park, and stun-ning the cast and audience of Saturday Night Live, few could doubt that Arcade Fire had be-come a rock band of consequen-ce. Their success drew attention to their home base, a scruffy yet vivacious neighbourhood of

Montreal, Canada, called Mile-End. A host of often bestially named bands rooted there stum-bled into the loving embrace of the music press worldwide. Wolf Parade, Pony Up!, the Stills, the Dears, Stars, Islands and their predecessor, the Unicorns—tag-ged as art rock, chamber pop or neo-prog, all to some degree shared Arcade Fire’s euphoric emotional candour, composi-tional ambition and bilingual membership.

More recent comers have taken an electronic tack—note We Are Wolves’ synth-punk or the “turbo crunk” beat barrage of Megasoid, whose debut, the guerrilla-style Bridge Burner block party in Mile-End, re-mains the stuff of legends—but they too maintain punk rock’s defiant ethos and a handcrafted art-school aesthetic.

The latest breakout from Mile-End is Plants and Ani-mals, an indie rock trio whose

INDIE MUSIC

IT’s A ZOO OuT THERE

Plants and Animals eMerGed froM the wildlife of MontreAl’S Mile-end.

- 50 - - 51 -IT’S A ZOO OUT THERE IT’S A ZOO OUT THERE

debut album Parc Avenue (to which Arcade Fire’s Sarah Neu-feld added string work) earned a Pitchfork.com plug and a 2008 Polaris Prize nomination. The title is a nod, a declaration of love even, to one of Mile-End’s main thoroughfares.

“Plenty of cities have a Park Avenue,” says P&A drummer Matthew Woodley, “so there’s a familiarity, but our Parc, with a C, is a special place, a mess of different things, full of hilarious and strange characters, multi-cultural, miscellaneous. Two of us live on Parc and we recorded a large chunk of the record in an apartment studio on the street. It all just fit.”

A decade and change ago, Mile-End was largely a pat-chwork of working-class im-migrants, while the rockers, hipsters and artists were to the south, in the Plateau district. Cheaper rents, good coffee and available industrial lofts, howe-ver, had a magnetic pull on young folks in the Plateau and indeed across Canada.

“It was a gradual progres-sion from art and studio spaces to performance spaces to cafés to etcetera, etcetera—trendy, trendy,” says Dan Seligman, co-founder of the annual autumnal Pop Montreal festival, concen-trated in Mile-End. “It’s a great neighbourhood though, small, walkable, with all kinds of dif-ferent local flavours.”

The invasion of Mile-End can be pinned on the germi-nal mid-’90s efforts of Gods-peed You! Black Emperor, an expansive and often irascibly political music collective, and to the locales established by GYBE’s Mauro Pezzente—first the Hotel2Tango studio/show space, later the twin venues Casa del Popolo and la Sala Rossa.

Much has changed, or pe-rhaps simply expanded in scope,

It all began almost three dec-ades ago with the first Mon-treal International Jazz Festival, which in early July 2009 will see its 30th edition. Despite a host of big-name jazz talent, the FI-JM’s programming is hardly li-mited to the genre, with blues, rock, Latin, African and elec-tronic acts in the mix, and the free outdoor “main event” show is invariably a winner.As of 20 years ago, the FIJM team, Spectra, also oversees Les

since then. Pop Montreal’s 2002 debut, for instance, was a hum-ble affair. Now it’s gradually challenging NYC’s venerable CMJ Music Marathon as the pre-eminent East Coast indie music event. Key to its appeal is its Mile-End setting and the musical bounty there.

“There’s a sense of commu-nity,” says Seligman, “because there are dozens of bands, and all the musicians are in different bands with each other. You feel it around you all the time—you feel like you’re part of some-thing.”

FrancoFolies de Montréal, an annual ten-day run of exclusively French-language music happe-ning two weeks after the FIJM. Squeezed between the two is the Nuits d’Afrique festival, packed with well-selected sounds from Africa and its diaspora.

Festival season in Mon-treal was long limited to high summertime, but as new fests emerged, they grabbed calen-dar slots ever farther away from July. The Spectra team made it official—Montreal’s a festival town all year ’round—with the February 2000 debut of the Montreal High Lights Festival, a deep-winter blizzard of arts, fine food, music and energy-in-tensive shows (it’s sponsored by Hydro-Québec, the province’s electric company). Its city-wide Nuit Blanche all-nighter, happe-ning on February 28 in 2009, is its cornerstone, not be missed.

Autumn is perhaps a little less icy, and in fact heats up dra-matically over the long weekend of October 1 to 5, 2009, when the Pop Montreal festival oc-curs in pretty much any down-town venue with a stage and soundboard, and unusual spaces (churches, community halls, even a funeral home) as well.

Gibert Rozon, founder and CEO of the internationally re-nowned Just for Laughs festival, has created yet another festive event: Zoofest. Held in conjunc-tion with the annual Just for Laughs festival, Zoofest mixes music, humour, and dance into a creative culture that both in-troduces new talents and show-cases established artists within a variety of artistic fields. Mr. Rozon’s comedy-focused events have contributed to Montreal’s fun-loving personality as it has earned its global reputation as a Mecca of humour.

THE MONT-REAL vIbEmontreal has earned a reputatIon as a cIty of festIvals over the years, confIrmed by the prolIferatIon of fIlm, arts, humour and most Importantly musIc events.

BY SellinG oVer 850 000 CopieS of their firSt AlBUM And BY BeinG prAiSed BY dAVid Bowie, Arcade Fire BroUGht the Attention of the hole MUSiC indUStrY on MontreAl And itS MUSiCAl BAndS.



Montreal,” says D&Q’s founder and director, Chris Oliveros, raised in multilingual Montreal’s north-shore suburb Laval.

“This city has always been one of the top two or three ‘comics cities’ in North America, and it’s only been getting better in that regard in re-cent years. It’s thriving and growing in both the English and French communities, and this city seems to be a magnet for other artists and car-toonists moving here from Toronto and the West Coast.”

Most of those artists settle in a mid-city, mostly residential district called Mile-End. A litt-le frayed at the edges but hardly run down, Mile-End is a lively blend of myriad ethnic businesses, vintage architecture and an energetic, self-reliant arts community. “Mile-End has an affinity with the aesthetic of Drawn & Quarterly, more so than any neighbourhood downtown.

“We’ve been based in Mile-End for nearly 20 years, so it was a very natural decision to open our store where we’re based,” Oliveros says of the company’s recently inaugurated retail outlet on Bernard Street, which carries their own products and those of likeminded publishers—including fellow Montrealers La Pastèque, l’Oie de Cravan and Conundrum Press, whose founder, Andy Brown, co-organizes Mile-End’s annual indie pub lishing fair, Expozine.

“It’s interesting that Montreal is the home base of at least four good independent publishers, and that somehow they’re evenly balanced on linguis-tic lines—two French publishers, two English.”

Even more so than D&Q, the other three are known not only for mixing comics into their catalogues, but for hybridizing the medium with other literary forms and challenging the bounda-ries of comics. All four maintain strict standards of quality and originality in presentation.

“It could be a coincidence that the best pu-blishers in Canada are based here,” muses Olive-ros, “or could it be due to the vibrant nature of this city—but it’s probably more of the latter.”

With the arguable exception of Seattle’s Fanta-graphics Books, Montreal-based publisher Drawn & Quarterly has done more than anyone to show North Americans what Europe and Japan already know—that the words “comic book” and “adult literature” aren’t incompatible.

The company’s reputation was initially ce-mented by the frequently autobiographical works of Julie Doucet, Seth, Chester Brown and Joe Matt, and in recent years, they’ve added the likes of David B., Adrian Tomine and Debbie Drechs-ler to the fold.

One would think such a culturally potent en-terprise would plant itself in New York or L.A., or at the very least Toronto, where many of its prize artists reside.

“Although I’m very fond of both Toronto and New York, there was never a compelling reason to move Drawn & Quarterly away from

THE quAR- TER fOR dRAw-INgCAtAlYtiC CoMiC pUBliSher drAwn & QUArterlY iS hAppieSt At hoMe in MontreAlBY Rupert Bottenberg

“thiS CitY hAS AlwAYS Been one of the top two or three ‘CoMiCS CitieS’ in north AMeriCA, And it’S onlY Been GettinG Better in thAt reGArd in reCent YeArS.”

PUBLISHING

If Hollywood calls its movie bu-siness “the industry,” it would seem fair for Montreal to call its own “the mystery.” In fact, while our movie industry is a source of pride here in Quebec, it is com-pletely unknown among most cinephiles around the world.

And yet, Montreal has been a key player in the evolu-tion of global cinema over the last 20 years. Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Titanic, Independence Day, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible. . . These films would have never seen the light of day were it not for the technological prowess of Montreal companies such as Softimage and Discreet Logic (now part of Autodesk). Our internationally recognized ex-pertise in the field of 2-D and 3-D imaging has resulted in the birth of a dynamic digital arts community, which is involved in a wide range of projects around the world. Pioneers such as the National Film Board’s Norman McLaren and Daniel Langlois helped these high-tech advance-ments find their place in modern cinema, and today major motion pictures can rarely do without the technological know-how de-veloped in Montreal. Not sur-prisingly, this expertise has also made Montreal a world leader in the video game industry.

If special effects cast Mon-

treal’s contributions to the film industry in a somewhat myste-rious light, the fact that our role as a world-class production cen-tre is hidden behind-the-scenes doesn’t help clarify our position. Regardless of the highs and lows related to currency fluctuations, Montreal has always been consi-dered a choice city for filming major productions for a number of reasons. We’ve got well-known artisans, a variety of locations to shoot (including both European and American looks), modern studios, multilingual actors, dub-bing facilities, and so on.

Post-production is another vibrant sector, thanks to firms such as Fly Studio, Pascal Blais, Buzz, Hybride Technologies and Fake Studio. These home-grown businesses have worked on some high-profile projects for Coca-Cola, Beck, MGM Grand, the 300 movies, Sin City, Brokeback Moun-tain, The Aviator, to name a few.

Despite all this success, Quebec pride is more centred on its independent filmmakers. Since the 1970s, the independent film industry in this province has enjoyed a certain success, which in turn has left its mark on the local cultural landscape. Direc-tors like Denys Arcand, François Girard, Jean-Marc Vallée and Denis Villeneuve (who won the Grand Prix Canal + at Cannes in 2008) have known a considera-ble level of success in the United States and Europe.

Finally, we’ve got television. Despite its limited population base, Quebec TV is incredibly dynamic, with production house such as Zone 3 and Cirrus. As its local productions tackle foreign content, its media reach often surpasses 50% of the population for a single show. These condi-tions, which are unique in North America, give a good indication of our vibrant audiovisual crea-tion scene, and also explain why several show formats are expor-ted, primarily to Europe.

THE uN- kNOwN MOvIE sTARthe MontreAl MoVie indUStrY

BY Jean-François Bouchard

1967_ IMAX TECHNOLOGY PIONEE-RED AT MONTREAL 67 WORLD FAIR.

1982_ FRéDéRIC BACK WINS HIS FIRST OSCAR FOR HIS ANIMATED FILM CraC.

1986-87_ Le DéCLin De L’empire amériCain IS NOMINATED FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM AT THE OSCARS. THAT SAME YEAR, THE FILM WINS LA QUINZAINE DES RéALISATEURS AT CANNES.

1987_ SOFTIMAGE INVENTS 3-D SPECIAL EFFECTS SOFTWARE CAL-LED SOFTIMAGE|3D.

1988_ THE CITé DU CINéMA IS INAUGURATED IN MONTREAL. MEL’S STUDIOS ARE THE MOST MODERN IN THE CINEMA AND TELEVISION IN-DUSTRY IN CANADA.

1988_ FRéDéRIC BACK WINS A SE-COND OSCAR FOR HIS ANIMATED FILM L’homme qui pLantait Des arbres.

2000 _ ALEXANDRE PETROV WINS BEST SHORT ANIMATED FILM AT THE OSCARS FOR Le VieiL homme et La mer.

2002 _ DENYS ARCAND IS AWARDED THE PRIX DU MEILLEUR SCéNARIO AT CANNES FOR HIS FILM Les inVa-sions barbares.

2003_ WORLD LEADING EFFECTS COMPANY INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MA-GIC (LUCAS ARTS) SELECTS SOFTI-MAGE/XSI AS ITS NEXT-GENERATION ANIMATION PRODUCTION PIPELINE.

2003_ THE OSCAR FOR BEST FO-REIGN FILM IS AWARDED TO DENYS ARCAND’S Les inVasions barbares.

2008_ THE CANNES GRAND PRIX FOR SHORT FILMS IS AWARDED TO DENIS VILLENEUVE FOR next FLoor.

CINEMA & SPECIAL EFFECTS

THE UNKNOWN MOVIE STAR- 54 -

THE UNKNOWN MOVIE STAR- 55 -

- 56 - - 57 -LISTINGSLISTINGS

sId LEE LOvEs shopping

COMMIsssAIREsAn avant-garde design gallery5226 st-laurent blvd.www. commissairesonline.com

bILLIEHigh-end women’s fashion1012 laurier ave. west

REbORN International showcase of top fashion designers231 saint-paul st. west www. reborn.wsc

EspACE pÉpIN A warm shop where art and design meet 350 saint-paul st. west www. pepinart.com

M0851High-end leather goods667 ste-catherine st. west 3526 st-laurent blvd. www. m0851.com

COCOA LOCALE Homemade cakes in this small kitchen4807 parc ave.www. cocoalocale.com

COMpTOIR d’AILLEuRs Beautiful candles to warm you up4817 st-laurent blvd. www. comptoirdailleurs.com

gENEvIèvE gRANdbOIs A designer chocolate shop162 st-viateurst. west138 atwater ave. stall c-1 www. chocolatsgg.com

MICHEL bRIssON Tailoring for men at his best384 st-paul st. west & 1012 laurier st. west www. michelbrisson.com

OLd gOLd Little vintage clothing gem256 Mont-royal ave. east

CAMION dE pOMpIER Heaven for designer toys323 ontario st. eastwww. camiondepompier.com

gOOdfOOT Sneakers for hipsters3830 st-laurent blvd www. getonthegoodfoot.ca

u&I Tasteful fashion for men and women 3650 woMens / 3652 Mens st-laurent blvd www. boutiqueuandi.com

dRAwN ANd quARTERLy Graphic novels and litterature211 bernard st. west www. drawnandquarterly.com

MONA MOORE High-end women’s shoes1446 sherbrooke st. west www. monamoore.com

HOLT RENfREw Top fashion market1300 sherbrooke st. west www. holtrenfrew.com

LOLA & EMILIE An apartment filled with fine women’s clothing 3475 st-laurent blvd. www. lolaandemily.com

LEs TOuILLEuRs High-end kitchenware shop152 laurier ave. westwww. lestouilleurs.com

LIbRIssIME Art book shop62 st-paul st. west www. librissime.com

restosCLuNy Amazing lunch canteen275 prince st.www.cluny.info

LEMÉAC Bistro with heart, this place is a classic1045 laurier ave. west www.restaurantlemeac.com

TOquÉNormand Laprise showcases the best local products at the best restaurant in town900 place Jean-paul-riopelle www.restaurant-toque.com

pIEd dE COCHON Martin Picard brings traditional cooking back in style536 duluth st. east www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca

Aux vIvREs Small vegan restaurant where everything is fresh and tasty4631 st-laurent blvd.

CHAssE ET pêCHEA remix of fine food in a classy setting423 st-claude st.www.leclubchasseetpeche.com

gARdE-MANgEROver-the-top bistro that turns into a small bar at night408 st-françois-Xavier st.

bIsTRO bIENvILLE A street corner bistro where local products shine4650 Mentana st. www.bistrobienville.com

MONTÉE dE LAIT/ bOuCHONNÉ A tiny gem where Martin Juneau shines371 villeneuve st. east9 fairMount st. east www.bouchonne.com

bu A wine bar and Italian family trattoria5245 st-laurent blvd. www.bu-mtl.com

LE LOCAL A busy bistro for downtown business meetings740 williaM st.www.resto-lelocal.com

juN I A deluxe Japanese restaurant where raw fish meets beef156 laurier ave. west www.juni.ca

RAZA/MAdRE A modern take on South American fare114 laurier st. west2931 Masson st.www.restaurantraza.com

L’ExpREss Classic French bistro3927 st-denis st.

M suR MAssON Fresh products reinvented daily in this small bistro2876 Masson st.www.msurmasson.com

jOE bEEf/LIvERpOOL ROOM/MCkIERNAN Three neighbouring restaurants inspired by traditional East Coast 2491 notre-daMe st. west www.joebeef.ca

LEs dEux sINgEs dE MONTARvIE Classic Mile End bistro176 st-viateur st. west

TRINITy Classy Greek restaurant1445 druMMond st. www.trinity-restaurant.com

OLIvE ET gOuRMANdO Desserts are the highlight in this friendly lunch canteen351 st-paul st. west www.oliveetgourmando.com

barsLAIkAFor an electronic drink 4040 st-laurent blvd.www.laikamontreal.com

LA buvETTE CHEZ sIMONE Good wine and cured meats4869 parc ave.

sALA ROssA The best place for indie music4848 st-laurent blvd.www.casadelpopolo.com

HELM Home-brewed beer and bistro food273 bernard st. west www.helm-mtl.ca

ZOO bIZARRE Creative and crazy music cavern6388 st-hubert st. www.zoobizarre.net

COdA CLubGreat dance outlet 4119 st-laurent blvd. www.clubcoda.com

suITE 701 Delirious cocktails701 côte de la place-d’arMes www.suite701.com

CONfEssIONAL Bar for intense fun431 Mcgill st.

MIAMI Beer on the Main3601 st laurent blvd.

ALTITudE Up in the coulds737-1 place ville Marie- ph2 www.promoclub737.com


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Sid Lee is a member of montreal.ad.

Sid lee wAntS to thAnK…

Writers Lucinda Catchlove, Rupert Bottenberg and Sarah Lévesque, proofreader Lorraine Carpenterand and photographers Roger Proulx and Jean-François Bérubé.

ContACt inforMAtion

Ateliers: Montreal 75 Queen Street, Suite 1400 Montreal, Quebec H3C 2N6 Canada Phone: +1 514-282-2200

Amsterdam Gerard Doustraat 72 1072 VV Amsterdam The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0) 206 623030 Paris 12 rue du Sentier 75 002 Paris France Phone: +33 (1) 44 88 83 90 Toronto 55 Mill Street Building 5, Suite 500 Toronto, Ontario M5A 3C4 Canada Phone: +1 416-421-4200 Austin Suite D-102 3601 South Congress Austin, Texas 78704 United States Phone: +1 512-444-3533

Websites: sidlee.com sidleearchitecture.com jimmylee.tv

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