Takin' it to the streets

>> The Festival des arts du Village struts its stuff

by GERARD DEE

Last year the festival season got that much hotter with the first annual Festival des Arts du Village, a fusion of paint, sculpture, dance, poetry and various other mediums of artistic expression. This year's edition promises to be that much more explosive, with over 150 artists, including 50 performers, scheduled to take over Ste-Catherine between St-Hubert and Cartier street, July 2-8. The fest is the brainchild of Paul Haince, who, along with partners Martin Houle and Jean-Denis Lapointe, put the show on the road. It was Haince who originally approached the Montreal Gay Business Guild with the idea of an arts festival.

"I'm not a [spring] chicken," says Haince. "I'm over 50 and, in the '70s, I did over 400 art fairs in the United States. I realized that none of this existed in Montreal." Being a businessman himself (he owned a bar called MAX at the Village's beginning in the early '80s), he thought the business community was the logical vehicle to get the ball rolling. "The gay community, and the gay business community, was the ideal motivation for this event. I believed with their help we could do it. And that's exactly what happened." This year's event will feature local artists and international artists from such diverse locales as Hawaii, Tokyo and Rome. Participants will be set up in booths or tents along the street and artwork with more adult themes (read: erotic) will be on display in the Galerie Atelier Jean-Marie Bergeron (1227A Amherst).

All-ages show

Haince says festival organizers wanted to be respectful of its entire audience. "As we're inviting families, including children, we didn't want to hurt the feelings of anyone with things that children shouldn't see." Not to worry, a special display for kids will be set up in front of Beaudry metro station. Other special events include a stage for musical acts at the corner of Ste-Catherine and Amherst and body painting at the bar Le Drugstore on Wednesday, July 4.

Participants like artist and dancer Ricardo Oliveres see the event as important for the community. "If we look at the gay community and the Village, we are very lucky that we have the bars and restaurants, places to hang out. But it's another experience to see what people can actually create. It's an opportunity to socialize in a different way."

Fellow artist Grant Cunningham agrees the festival is important and unique. "It's definitely good commerce for the area," he says. "It's summer in Montreal, there's tons of stuff going on. But there didn't used to be an arts festival in the Village. And it's a very creative community."

Sometimes this creativity manifests itself in colourful ways. Like Italian photographer Paulo Finnocchi, who specializes in photographs of the penis. Not only will his work be on display during the festival, he'll be looking to update his portfolio by approaching possible candidates in the Village and asking if he can take a picture of the family jewels.

Less forward, though no less intriguing, is the work of local photographer Robert Laliberté. Known for his striking photos of the male physique, his work will be on display at the newly relocated L'Androgyne bookstore at 1436 Amherst. For those who value oral as well as visual talents, local poets will be performing daily from 2-8 p.m. at Parc L'Espoir (corner of Ste-Catherine E. and Panet). The festival is expected to draw some 200,000 spectators and with the diversity of talent on display, there promises to be something for everyone.

"You get to see artists whose lives are not just centred in the Village, all of their experiences are influenced by the whole city, the whole world. They travel, they come from different places," says the Mexican-born Oliveres. "Even if it's one person who would say 'Hey, I appreciate the fact that you participated,' that's enough. The whole point is to exhibit and to share what you do and who you are."

The festival takes place July 2-8; for info call 525-4545 visit www. festivaldesarts.org