Phenomena Festival — October 12th to 23rd, 2020
Artistic director: D. Kimm
Deadline: February 1st 2020
Theme for Phenomena 2020: Generosity
Phénomena is a bilingual interdisciplinary festival that seeks to highlight innovative, unclassifiable and extravagant artists. The Festival presents cabarets, whimsical and theatrical acts, performances with projections, happenings, performative dance, installations, and singular poetic events. The 9th edition of Phenomena will take place from the 12th to the 23rd of October 2020. Watch video excerpts of Phenomena’s last edition.
The Festival’s roots are deeply anchored in exploration and risk-taking. Phénomena is interested in professional artists, either emerging or established, with a very personal approach, as well as in independent and nonconformist creation companies. We offer a platform to artists who are rigorous, take risks and challenge themselves. We present poetic and atypical hybrid creations that are also moving and authentic. A part of the programming has already been planned by the Artistic Director and the rest of the programming will be established based on this call for projects.
Our Festival headquarters is La Sala Rossa, a charming old venue that is neither a classic theatre stage nor a black box set-up. With its modest technical equipment and a seating arrangement that works well for a cabaret set-up of 220 seats, the venue offers the opportunity for artists to be in close proximity with the audience. Phénomena Festival usually hosts one presentation per show at Sala Rossa, and we welcome solos, small groups, collectives, etc. We also host shared evenings, composed of short-form performances by different artists.
We are on the lookout for interdisciplinary creations that are past a “workshop phase”, but that have not necessarily been widely distributed. It is essential for us to see the work of artists we believe to be a good fit for the Festival; as such, our programming cycle has expanded to two years. We strongly encourage artists to present their projects in advance and to invite us to witness new steps along the way. This process will help us give artists the support they need and will ensure the consistency of our programming.
Faithful to its mission, Phénomena is interested in presenting diverse artists, including Indigenous artists, People of Color, LGBTQ+, or persons with disabilities. Unfortunately La Sala Rossa is difficult to access for people with reduced mobility, but we are happy to work with other, more accessible venues. Feel free to share with us your ideas or suggestions.
We are open to receiving proposals from outside Québec; however, due to our modest budget, we ask international/out-of-province artists to mobilize resources and contribute to travel expenses.
Our theme for 2020 is Generosity and we are looking for creation proposals that bring together artists from different communities and/or of different generations. We also want to honor artists who have often worked behind the scenes, as well as honor creators/designers, artistic organizers, and well-seasoned artists who have given much to their communities and who have much to give still.
Send us your proposal which must include:
- CV or description of your company, contact person, city of residence;
- Project description (2 pages maximum), including spatial and technical needs, confirmed collaborators, duration of performance, language(s) used in the performance, and a list of resources already secured;
- Links to photos and videos illustrating your current or past work;
- Production timeline.
We also want to know why your creation project should be presented at Phénomena in particular. We are driven by an artistic mission and seek projects that are in line with this mission and will also help the Festival evolve. Applications may be written in French or English and performed in any language.
Send your completed proposal to artistic director D. Kimm at d.kimm@electriques.ca and Administrative Director and Development Manager Charlie Julien at admin@electriques.ca. For any questions and additional information, please contact Charlie Julien by email or by phone at 514-495-1515.
Deadline: February 1st 2020