The Accolades project gives voice to seniors in a new podcast
One and One Make a Thousand is very happy to lift the veil on the Accolades – POESIS Sonores project, a series of short sound capsules chronicling the experience of confinement in a seniors’ residence, available online In the environment of the ongoing health crisis, the Accolades project highlights the words of seniors with short testimonies that present the experience of self-isolation of Gisele, Jerry, Lorraine, Darquise, Leslie, Claude and Alice.
Narrated by François Grisé, general and artistic director of Un et un font mille, the capsules offer us a dive into the daily confinement lived by 6 residents of the Heritage Gardens of Val d’Or as well as François’ mother, Alice also living in the residence, since last May. After spending 2 months in the Heritage Gardens residence 6 years ago, François developed a close relationship with the residents. The capsules are a reflection of this complicity that has allowed him to collect intimate, touching, funny, sometimes disturbing testimonies.
Above all, François invites us to understand over the course of the conversations, how this experience has been revealing of the strangeness and violence of the lack of human contact, revealed by the word of one of his subjects: “Since I’ve been young, we’ve been hugging each other, we’ve been hugging each other, and we’ve been hugging each other… That’s one thing I missed a lot.” Jerry, resident of the Val d’Or Heritage Gardens.
The Vivre vieux Cycle
The realities of aging are the raw material of the current creation cycle of Un et un font mille, Living Old. Through the activities of this cycle, Un et un font mille desires to give a voice and faces to people often swept under the carpet and called “our elders”. The Accolades project is an integral part of this cycle.
A Canadian-German arts, science and public consultation forum entitled Habitats will also be launched from October 1 to 4. This forum will span a period of three years and will be an opportunityto create a space for actives reflection, consultation, dissemination of knowledge and individual and collective actions.
“It seems more important than ever to find open and embodied ways to face our fears… To give us the means to have collective imagination and to have an honesty around the realities of aging.” says François Grisé
Un et un font mille
Un et un font mille creates works and multidisciplinary activities that ask questions that we rarely dare to ask. These activities develop into a cycle around a specific theme and provoke unexpected encounters where each participant and spectator is invited to become part of the action.
Imaginarium – POESIS 3 (presentedas part of the CAM on tour in the summer of 2019) as well as the first version of the documentary play Tout inclus by and with François Grisé (to be presented at La Unicorne in October 2021), is part of the cycle Living Old.
Fountain of Youth – POESIS 4 is being made and will be presented in the summer of 2021.
Project Accolades – credits
The Accolades project is available on ITunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and all podcast platforms.
Created and co-directed by François Grisé and co-directed and music by Laurier Rajotte
A production of Un et un font mille
In broadcast partnership with Porte Parole and the collective Nous sommes ici
And supported by the Canada Council’s Creative Connection Program
Listen to the Accolades project: https://feeds.captivate.fm/accolades/
