The last few months here in Quebec have been tumultuous ones, with a massive student movement taking to the streets on a near daily basis to oppose tuition increases, and in doing so, giving birth to a ” Printemps érable” that is drawing the links between broader social justice struggles and a firm rejection of the logic of austerity economics.

These are inspiring and challenging times, and as the unrest causes the social and political landscape to change, so too has the visual landscape of the city. Montreal is seeing red, the colour of the student movement, with giant banners hung from balconies, red squares popping up on all surfaces, telephone poles wrapped in red cozies, and countless other creative interventions visualising solidarity with the students.

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Some views from the crowd during yesterday’s amazing mass protest against the tuition hikes. 200,000+, nous ne reculerons pas!

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My first post as a contributing editor to Art Threat is up, a short piece on artist-run centres in Québec supporting the student strike movement.

I’ve been deeply inspired by the students here in Montréal and played a (small) role in initiating the mobilisation of local artist-run centres to support them. The initiative emerged out of a discussion held at Skol in the context of Artivistic‘s Promiscuous Infrastructures exhibition/occupation. The show has proved to be an extremely interesting tool in drawing links between cultural and activist spheres (we also helped out with this amazing street intervention), and here’s hoping this is just a sign of things to come!

Additionally, for my concerned clients, LOKi design will be joining the strike. Sorry, no work ’til Friday!

I’ve long resisted the label of “artist”, preferring that of “graphic designer”. Art carried too much weight and responsibility. As of Friday, it might sound silly, but I’m going start using the term artist, not out of any sense of pride, but as a form of active resistance…

The Artivistic collective‘s Promiscuous Infrastructures project enters it’s second phase, opening at le Centre des arts actuels Skol on Friday night (March 9th), and running until April 14th. I’ll be documenting/writing much more about it on here in the coming weeks, but for now I just wanted to let people know about the vernissage and show.

We’ve been working a long time on this, and it should be fun, hope to see you there!

Facebook event here.

Some teaser images on Facebook here.

LOKi design/Trust&Co. is moving out of the kitchen studio, and into a brand-spanking new (temporary) office space at 210b Mozart Ave. West. Friendly neighbours include Catbird Productions and Parabola Films. Come by and say hi! More details soon…

I’ll be moderating an important panel discussion tomorrow evening on art and activism featuring artist/activists Coco Riot, Freda Guttman, Malcolm Guy, and Vincent Tinguely. After the panel presentations, we’ll open up the event to a general discussion amongst all participants, to hopefully start generating some ideas for action.

As the conservative agenda increases pressures upon artists and activists economically, politically, and ideologically, I feel it is becoming imperative that we organise together in resistance to it. I’d like to think of this event as a small first step in this direction (and as a continuation of the opening up of critical cultural space that we, as Howl! Arts, are trying to facilitate). The positive response we’ve received since announcing the event is very encouraging, and we’re sure this is just the beginning, the first event of many to come.

More info and RSVP on the Facebook event page.

Poster designed by Nazik of Howl! Arts

UPDATE: Vince’s presentation from the panel can now be read online here, and Thien’s photos of the event can be seen here.

The above photograph, taken just prior to Eric Drooker’s performance at the mighty Sala Rossa, does a pretty good job of summarising my feelings on the year that’s been, and my outlook for the one to come. The anticipation of an empty stage, the co-mingling of art, music and politics, and that damn nagging fear that people won’t show up, no matter how much work you put into something. In the end, that night was a beautiful night, but also a striking reminder of how much work still needs to be done.

2011 was an eventful, tumultuous year, personally, professionally, and obviously in the world all around us, filled with equal parts inspiration and tragedy. It was a year of transition for me, from full-time work to self-employment, from the world of corporate advertising and design to a renewed commitment to art and activism, from a long, grey heartbreak to finally feeling good about myself again, from Montréal to Europe (Berlin, how I miss you…) and back again.

Over the course of the year, I completed many design projects of which I am genuinely proud (e.g. see Cinema Politica, Comme des machines, Vox Versus, Bloom, and Cosmodome). With the Howl! Arts Collective, I helped to bring challenging new music to the community, putting on a series of concerts that I hope will become an integral part of the fabric of the independent arts scene here in Montreal for years to come.

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Hey Montréal, HUGE week coming up in the indy culture scene here, and I’m really happy to be a part of several events. First up, Howl IV is on Thursday night featuring the beautiful sounds of cellist Julia Kent. The Howl Arts Collective has been working hard over the last year to bring cutting-edge, politically-rooted music to your ears, and this night will close off our concert series for 2011 with an all-woman cast of performers, and a short presentation from the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy.

Expozine madness 2009! Photo by Camille McCouat

The main event this weekend is Expozine, of course. Celebrating 10 years running, this year’s event will lead us into the next exciting decade of indy publishing here in Montreal. It kicks off with a launch event at Drawn & Quarterly on Friday, featuring a discussion with the co-founders of Expozine, moderated by yours truly. In parallel, we’ll be launching the 12th issue of Four Minutes to Midnight, a special issue focusing on 10 years of Expozine and independent culture in Montreal.

Expozine itself is shaping up to be really great this year, with almost 300 exhibitors signed up, a reading series by the Greasy Goose Salon, a presentation on women silkscreeners organised by Galerie La Centrale, and an anniversary party at Casa del Popolo on Saturday night. Finally, an official event so we can all get drunk together with fellow zinesters!

And an important reminder to past Expozine participants, the latest issue of FMTM might very well feature some of your work! We’ve tried to contact you all, but you know how it goes sometimes… We’ll have more info about the issue on this website soon, but please swing by our table this weekend and browse through a copy of the issue, if you see your work, the copy is yours to keep! Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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