For its 9th edition, the Chromatic Festival will take place in the heart of the city and will unfold within the four floors of the former Montreal School of Fine Arts, from May 26th to June 2nd. One spot that will make the public live diverse experiences all linked by the same common denominator: art.
Atypical, eclectic and stimulating, the Chromatic Festival exists through four branches: Expo, Night, Pro and Kids.
The CHROMATIC EXPO will showcase nearly forty international and Montreal-based artists who will present their works and installations from varied and singular universes. The goal: to surprise, question and play with the audience.
On the 1st floor, the painting salon will allow you to engage with different immersive spaces like the one created by the three Montreal artists Ariane Côté, Julie Roch-Cuerrier and Jerry Pigeon. The kinetic sculpture of Daniel Iregui, on the other hand, will place the visitor in the heart of a destabilizing optical experience while the Light Society collective inhabits the space of the entry hall with an installation that will create a dynamic interaction with its environment.
On the mezzanine floor, Art Contemporary Club will offer an immersive curation of the total experience with six artists from the local and American scene, giving a critical and ironic look at this new paradigm of entrepreneurial gamification. On the same floor, the Recap exhibition of the Ok Cool photography collective will bring together a selection of photographers in an eclectic mural.
On the 2nd floor, visual, digital and VR installations will prolong the experience between the real and the virtual. The Galerie Galerie online platform will present Bed Art School, a selection of artists exploring the idea of the room as a place of learning and creation.
On the 3rd floor, filmmaker/video artist Andrew Thomas Huang, exhibited in prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and New York’s MoMA PS1, will present his installation Flesh Nest, a nine-part science fiction video series, illustrating a post-apocalyptic digital purgatory. Camille Jodoin Eng will use mirror structures, light, plastic, metal, wood, drawings or digital processes to offer a meditation on the interaction between physical and psychological space.
On the 4th floor, Laetitia Gilbert with her paper installation will interrogate our visible and intangible worlds while Kendra Yee will present with projections, digital tapestries, steel sculptures and found objects, a room full of purgatory and comical sensations.
On weekdays at 6 pm, small concerts called Apéros Chromatic will also enliven the Expo visitors to the rhythm of the performances of 11 talented local DJs.
NUIT CHROMATIC will take place in opening and closing of the festival on the Saturdays of May 26 and June 2. A rendez-vous is given to night owls for two atypical events where the party will take place in the heart of the exhibition. Disco, afro, house, electro or techno sounds will echo in the great Expo Chromatic which will remain open to the public for the occasion to allow them to admire photos, videos, artistic installations, paintings, sculptures, digital art and VR between two dance steps.
On the opening night menu on Saturday, May 26, Music Is My Sanctuary offers two ambiances for an evening bringing together several Montreal talents. Jesse Futerman and 99 Wolves will make the audience dance to house beats in the Chromatic Lounge, while Seb Diamond and Seychelle will take you on a melodic techno on the Moog Audio stage.
To end the festival on Saturday, June 2nd, Music Is My Sanctuary has invited four DJ’s of choice. We will find Pascale Project and Bowly behind the decks of the Chromatic Lounge for a trip between house, disco and pop. On the Moog Audio stage, two of Montreal’s Afro-stars, Bonbon Kojak and Akpossoul, will be in charge of making the crowd dance for this last evening of the festival.
CHROMATIC PRO is the professional meeting in art and business that explores the links between art, creativity and economy. Speaking to cultural workers, artists and entrepreneurs alike, Chromatic’s professional segment will provide an opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the field, discover inspired and inspiring projects, and network.
On May 28 and 29, there will be two days of conferences, roundtable discussions and workshops with nearly 50 speakers, who will address various themes, from cultural and creative entrepreneurship, to the international export of Quebec artists, and cultural marketing.
Number of major players in Montreal’s cultural industry, such as Pascale Chassé (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), Dax Dasilva (Lightspeed / Never Apart), Sébastien Ouimet (Cirque du Soleil), Marc DeSerres (DeSerres) and Jean -Sébastien Baillat (Studio Baillat) will be present to remind us how full of ideas the city of Montreal is! With common denominators of culture and art, Chromatic Pro’s programming will feature a variety of themes: «Artist and Entrepreneur: To be or not to be»,
«Experiential Marketing at the Service of Cultural Industries», «Young and Incubated», «Business Collections» and «Reinventing Yourself in Art and Business Today».
Finally, CHROMATIC KIDS will bring together artists and personalities from the world of arts and culture who hold stimulating creativity in youth to heart. May 27th will be a family Sunday like no other: children and parents will observe, learn, modify, create, and each will give free rein to their imagination and their own creativity for an unforgettable experience.
On the program: fifteen workshops that will bring joy to children, 4 to 12 years old, from familiarization with new technologies (augmented reality coloring, introduction to computer programming, musical creation using plants) to manual activities (introduction to weaving techniques, serigraphy, Yoga), these activities will satisfy the desires of the youth, as well as their parents.
DJ Abeille will be present throughout this day to make the little ones dance!
ACCESS
EXPO CHROMATIC
Free access except during Nuit Chromatic on May 26th and June 2nd
NUIT CHROMATIC
Nuit 1 & Nuit 2 pass
15$ + fees
CHROMATIC PRO
2 days pass for Pro Regular price / 159$ + fees Student price / 99$ + fees
CHROMATIC KIDS
Ticket for 1 Nuit
10$ + fees presale / 15$ at the door
1 day pass for Pro Regular price / 89$ + fees Student price / 49$ + fees
Free access with registration on chromatic.ca
