Pique Spring 2024: The Unexpected and Experimental at Three-day Ottawa Multimedia Arts Festival

Photo by Valerie Boucher

Four times a year, Ottawa arts organizer Debaser hosts Pique, a “forward-thinking” festival featuring a mix of musical, visual, and multimedia artists, both locally and internationally known. 

Their spring 2024 edition was held last weekend from March 8-10 at the Ottawa Arts Court. It was their first time hosting the event over multiple days and their biggest yet. Not only did the event showcase various acts well into the night, but it also hosted a mixture of workshops and installations, leaning into their theme of “experimentation, exploration, and expecting the unexpected.”

The festival kicked off with Topique, a series of artist talks and workshops held throughout the weekend. Attendees had the opportunity to delve deeper into the ideas and processes behind the artists' groundbreaking work, exploring topics such as digital and analogue sound production techniques, mindful listening, womanhood and representation, and improvisation. Among these sessions were workshops led by international artists Maria Chávez, Val Jeanty, and Maylee Todd, who each also performed in the main lineup. Friday’s sessions, held on International Women’s Day, included panel discussions with artists including Zineb Allaoui and LuCille whose exhibit “Elusive Illusion: A Review of the Nude African Form” was on display all weekend. 

Part of the greatness of Pique is you don’t always know what you’re going to get, but you go along for the ride anyway. The building filled up throughout Saturday into the night, as attendees wandered around, experiencing a variety of atmospheres and acts across the venue's different rooms.

Nordting by Valerie Boucher

At 6:30 p.m., Nordting, ”a nomadic people’s parliament of the North” and “separatist movement for the Arctic colony” was engaging the crowd at the Club SAW stage while signs on the front doors of the building warned those entering of a “strong scent of fish.” Their show is part-rousing PowerPoint, part-throat singing talent, and part-immersive experience as they beat drums with frozen fish and encourage the crowd to vote on various motions before hugging the strangers beside them.

Meanwhile, in a nearby room, Montreal duo Echönymphia, consisting of pianist Vivian Li and harpist Coralie Gauthier. blends harp and synth into ethereal sounds. Attendees watched the show relaxing on the floor as the pink and orange lights flickered on stage. 

Maria Chávez by Valerie Boucher

In a seated theatre, abstract turntablist Maria Chávez kicked off her installation "Topography of Sound" by inviting attendees of her earlier workshop to break a collection of records. The records were picked up at a local store, something she does in every city she performs in. Throughout her set, she incorporated those broken pieces into her music, creating an eclectic mix of mystery audio, voices, and beats.

By 9:30 PM, Club SAW is filled with a crowd dancing and drinking to disco duo TUSH while Norwegian visual artist, chanter, and musician Marita Isobel Solberg is playing in another room. The crowd built up throughout the night, with DJ digital polyglot closing it out with a packed set “inspired by space and other worlds” at 1 AM.

TUSH by Valerie Boucher

Pique highlights the diversity of Ottawa's arts scene, showcasing local talents like N'nerjie, Queenyy, and Dimitri Georgaras while bringing in unique artists from around the world. The range of acts and crowded rooms at Pique highlights the talent coming to and out of Ottawa and the thirst that people in the city have for these kinds of experiences.

---

Pique

Website

Debaser

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Valerie Boucher is a writer based in Ottawa, Canada. You can follow her on Instagram and learn more at valerieboucher.ca.

---

Related Articles

Also Cool x Mags' FREE Drink&Draw Returns to Système

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

What's better than a wholesome evening drawing with your friends drinking a cute drink? We strongly believe in creating accessible creative spaces to hang with friends, meet new ones, or just to get out of the house for a while, which is why we're excited to host another free Drink & Draw event at Système on October 11th.

We're proudly co-presenting alongside Mags and are welcoming DJs Abbot and Rah, who will be spinning all night long. Our DJs have also been hosting a weekly event called Tunes n’ Toons, which we’ll get into!

Here's the TLDR:

Drink & Draw at Le Système (7119 St Hubert) in Montreal, 5 pm-close

• No cover + supplies provided free of charge

• All ages and skill levels are welcome

• Non-alcoholic beverages are available. 

Feel free to bring friends or come on your own! We had quite a few people come through last time who wanted to vibe solo.

We also put together a short interview with our DJs and some of the drawings from our last event. Check it all out below.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

Also Cool: Can you introduce yourselves to the Also Cool readers in case they aren't familiar with you?

Shem: Hiya! I go by Shem G. Aka Ramehs.eS (Rah for short)

Your snarky neighbourhood Neptunian, a general outside-of-the-lines animated character! Been sitting my way through life in Montreal for the last few years; it's good to be here!

Abbot: I go by Hanzo_da_bullfrog on IG, Abbott artist, Palu artist from "paluyota" (free Genghis album).

Mags: I'm Mags; most folks know me as part of the musical duo Strange Froots and occasional Also Cool collaborator, but outside of that, I'm an illustrator, music producer, performer and event organizer.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: Would it be correct to consider you all cartoon enthusiasts?

A: Yes, we are. Top tier.

S: ABSOLUTELY! I can't remember a time when music and cartoons weren't an obsession. I've been sleeping with the radio or TV on for over 20 years (who knows what health effects that's had on me, but hey, I'm still alive)! It only got deeper when I decided to pick up pens and brushes for myself in an effort to learn/integrate new skills.

M: Cartoons are my whole thing, my raison d’être. My love of animation predates that of music, and it's something that I can easily talk about for hours. Even now, I'm still getting hip to current-day shows such as Craig of the Creek, which was such a wonderful discovery being that it's a cartoon with a young Black protagonist set in a fictionalized version of my hometown in the DMV, and even reflects many aspects of my own childhood! I can never take for granted the power of animation.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: How have cartoons and visual art impacted your musical endeavours, and/or vice versa?

A: They strongly influenced my creativity past composing and writing music. I studied music and video art while learning music and playing games and found the highest sensory grooves, deepest backbeat, and most fly verses. 

S: Doing my own visuals for music or very closely collaborating with more skilled artists helps it all feel more cohesive. As a huge fan of manga and MMORPGS, I love some solid world-building. When immersion is solid, it helps me feel confident about the project.

Other than that, inspiration comes from many sources, but the primary would have to be what's been absorbed through the twistings of a more illustrative lens.

M: Interestingly enough, the music in many cartoons I grew up watching pushed me to make my own. From the cultural staple that is Tevin Campbell's contribution to A Goofy Movie to the DnB and mod music found in Cartoon Network shows like The Powerpuff Girls and Teen Titans, even my early exposure to city pop via Sailor Moon. 

While my dad and brother were big proponents in my getting into music production and electronic music, respectively, the music I first started making was giving main character themes. The first 'EP' (if you can even call it that) I made when I was in middle school was the official soundtrack to the manga I was writing at the time: JAGUARA: Felines United, an unapologetic ripoff of Sailor Moon, InuYasha and Thundercats. Nowadays, the music still gives off a cinematic vibe with more room for interpretation. 

Still, with projects like NuLOM (a tape I put out with Shem G in 2018) and Age of Aquarius (another tape I put out with JU!CE in early 2020), they both draw from (and quite literally sample) the cartoons, comics, video games that we blerds loved growing up and still love today. Nowadays, I try to find other ways for my audiences to cross over, such as playing Loop Sessions beats during my art streams on Twitch.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: Drink & Draws is an offshoot of the Paint & Sip concept. When did you first come across drink & draw events, and what motivated you to put on your own Drink & Draw events?

S: Summer rooftop parties with good friends, park hangs in the sun mixed with a staggering stationary splurge across my first years of learning led towards wanting to put on a more consistent concept while also having a good reason to hang in my favourite record store/cafés

I have yet to attend a paint and sip, but I can't wait to get the chance!

M: I'd never formally attend a drink and draw or a paint and sip, but I've heard of the latter from my older sister. From my understanding, it's a very cheugy activity comprising wine and possibly ceramics. Very #livelaughlove teas. 

Imagine my surprise when I found out how expensive they were! But truly, what motivated me to put on a Drink & Draw was that I came onto the scene over a decade ago as the girl who draws, and that's how I forged connections in the city; I even started a blog called Mags Maps MTL that was originally hosted on my webcomic site. I wanted to switch roles and see what the rest of Montreal felt like drawing, especially if they could draw inspiration from the city like I did. 

The idea first came to me around springtime when I was planning my birthday week (which was several months away, but as a Virgo, I've had to learn the hard way not to rely on folks with a different grasp on the passage of time), and as my date grew closer, Shem and Hanzo had also started their own series, and I saw its potential for a chill, low-stakes hangout with friends and sharing space in a creative environment. 

When my event with Also Cool came around, I had no idea just how popular it would be... because why now we got a whole bar drawing??

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: What has putting on these events been like for you? Any feedback?

S: So far so good! The only feedback would be to make more posters and have it happen more consistently, which is definitely the goal! I want to keep things up in a sustainable and rejuvenating way!

M: It was incredibly moving to see people tap into their inner child and revisit those memories or even express things they were feeling in the present moment through poetry and abstract art. A lot of the same notions kept getting repeated as I listened to people's reactions: "therapeutic," "wholesome," and "perfect weeknight activity." 

The truth is people want more access to creating art that isn't confined to daytime and just more variety in their nightlife overall. It's a great way to mix things up for happy hour, or even if you wanted to grab a drink by yourself, you can do that and pick up a pen and paper and doodle something with or without the expectation or pressure of someone coming up to you to socialize.

A:  It's been dope; people pull up to actually draw and vibe. It has opened the floor for us to continue working on our sets and support many of the local businesses in Montreal that we love. There is no better way to unwind after work than to drink and draw. 

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

AC: What are your hopes for the next events, and what should folks take away from them after attending?

A: We hope more people find out about it and they can come vibe with us. We love ya'll. 

S: I'll disclose my first and end goal for Tunes n' Toons. If every musical artist leaves with a cover for a project or, on the flip side, if every visual artist leaves with a commission for a musician, I've succeeded!

Other than that, people have been making friends, tips, snacks, and stories; what more could we ask for!?

Big bonus points to the relief many artists feel about having a relaxed environment to enjoy art outside of a more "work-based" environment!

M: My hope for the next events is that people lean more into what inspires them today. We all love nostalgia, but looking back on my old blog posts about the things happening in MTL in 2013 has taught me that people don't realize just how nostalgic they'll be for the moments they're living right now. They say art is how we decorate space, and music is how we decorate time. 

I think the criss-cross version of that is true as well: I associate certain songs with Montreal and others with the DMV, and being able to draw comics and art pieces to document my time in places that mean so much to me speaks volumes more than any diary entry I could write. 

I want people to come away from this with a newfound appreciation for their artistic expression and how it can serve to heal your past, anchor you in the present, and, in some cases, define your future. If not, define it, at least give you something to look back on fondly.

Photo from our last Drink&Draw event at Système

We can't wait for this next edition of our Drink & Draw series! If you can't make this round, we'll host the next one on November 8th, so mark your calendars.

See you at Système!

---

Related Articles

Also Cool x Em&May 2022 Holiday Pop Up

It's almost the end of the year, which means it's time for another Also Cool Holiday Market. This year we're doing it in partnership with Em&May, a local sustainable clothing brand based in the Mile End of Montreal.

We've got two days of amazing vendors lined up this weekend at the Em&May studio, located at 5425 Casgrain #801. The market runs 12:00PM-7:00PM today with drinks (big thank you to DRAV) and music and 12:00PM-5:00PM tomorrow.

Learn a bit more about the vendors:

Baby Minou

Baby Minou is all about emitting joy, playfulness and fun through beaded bags and accessories by drawing inspiration from delightful childhood memories and experiences. All handmade with love by Minou in Montreal.

Boneless Girl

Gooey Jewelry

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gooey Jewelry (@gooey.jewelry)

Telamona - Chocolates made by hand for everyone. 🏳️‍🌈

Tooth Gems Papi

Martika aka “Tooth Gems Papi”, is a queer Latinx artist, who offers a wide range of Genuine Swarovski Crystals for those searching for a jazzier smile!

Jagged Lil Thrills

Crochet goodies handmade in Montreal, with some jewels on the side!

Hungry Diana

Hungry Diana AKA the Dumpling Queen is sharing her love through her food. Her dumplings are the first of its' kind in Montreal! They're fluffy, juicy and crispy all in one bite!

Le Sleepover
Y2k & reworked pieces ✧･ﾟ: 👡*✧･ﾟ: 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁𝓈*:･👛ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ 💒

Inside Cooper’s Den

Cooper’s Den is dedicated to bring your fantasy world to life with handmade beaded bags and jewelry. Founded in 2020, the Den is a Montreal brand rooted in inclusivity, color and statement pieces. Coopers Den is driven by the challenge of pairing unexpected materials and creating quality designs that will bring you joy.

DANALOGEMZ

Soft Serve Pillows

Soft Serve is an independent Montreal-based designer making funky pillows and blankets for your home.

Mudmuddd

Çanta

All products are hand-knitted and carefully crafted. Çanta began as a project that was primarily dedicated to creating hand-knitted bags. Within six months, it expanded to include other hand-knitted garments such as dresses, turtlenecks, hats, shawls and pillows. Çanta directly draws inspiration from the streets, lifestyle, people and products from Shkodër, Albania where the creator of Çanta originates from.

Ci Cela

Maya Stewart Pathak is a silversmith and Reiki healer. Her jewelry line, ci cela, is made-to-order using silver, 14k gold, and recycled precious metals and charms. She has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ❤️‍🔥 (@danicaolders)

Danica Olders / BAD WRLD

See you there!

---

Related Articles

Theatre Spotlight: Black Theatre Workshop's "Pipeline" Design Team

View fullsize

Black Theatre Workshop is making big moves — their bilingual production of Pipeline, co-produced with La Manufacture, has swung us right back into gear with this emotional, challenging piece and beautiful, bold creative choices.

The play follows Nya, a single mother who teaches in a public school and her teenage son Omari, who attends a private institution. As Omari struggles with the everyday factors working against him in the school system, an incident occurs that puts his future, and the education his mother worked so hard for him to have access to, at risk.

Pipeline’s stellar design team deserves to have a light shone upon them while audiences still have a chance to catch the French version of the production from April 26th to May 8th at Théâtre La Licorne.

On set and costumes, Nalo Soyini Bruce thought a lot about the uniforms we wear everyday: in school, for work and as members of society. A theme throughout Nalo’s work is her non-traditional mix of pieces to create asymmetry in her characters. In Pipeline, the architecture and shapes throughout costume and set created the perfect industrial, chilling rigidity that characters manipulated with their frustrations.

It is important to highlight Nalo’s stellar team of Black women supporting her design: Courtney Moses (Set & Costume Assistant), Mlle Geri (Make-Up Assistant), & Enyse Charles (Costume Assistant). Nalo has expressed that their work was instrumental to the process and collaborating exclusively with a team of Black women in costume, makeup and sets was a first for her. She feels it is important for youth to see this example and be inspired to enter creative fields as performing artists as well as designers.

Elena Stoodley, Sound Designer, felt personally connected to the story of Pipeline, having grown up in the Quebec school system. “Like Omari, I was sometimes targeted and with no other ways to protect myself, I used to result to my fists to stop the verbal bullying,” she says. She even wrote a piece about her constant fear of ending up in prison because the school system at an early age made her feel like she needed to be contained.

In creating the production’s sound design, Elena thought about how prison systems are mirrored in other institutions and “how weirdly, a prison soundscape resembles high school hallways. The cafeteria, the intercom, the bus that gets you to class or your cell, how time is counted...” She mentions the threat of being just a number is latent, a theme echoed in the video and costume designs, as well.

Lighting Designer Tim Rodrigues, a staple of the Montreal theatre community, knew he would be working on this production as of 2019. Rodrigues was drawn to the emotional layers in the script, as well as the importance of the issue at the centre of the story: the school-to-prison pipeline.

Starting with identifying moments where light or quality of light is mentioned in the script, Tim also follows and elevates the emotional journeys of the characters with lighting. He looks into different cultural references mentioned in the script (poetry, music, etc.) and carries his impressions of the story and the world into design meetings and conversations with the creative team and directors. Tim’s lighting for Pipeline created a moody, chilling colour palette that elevated the intensity and depth of the content presented.

Video design team Andrew & Emily, of potatoCakes_digital, were also enthused to be a part of this production and developed their design virtually using Unreal Engine and a draft of Nalo’s design to pre-visualize their mapping. The video design mapped throughout the show onto the actors and stage, providing context, shape, and texture; elevating the emotional peaks of the performance.

To find out more, go check out the show at La Licorne from April 26th to May 8th! Tickets are available here.

View fullsize

---

Related Articles

Chimbites x Plastique Famille Present Almas, an Immersive Experience for Ancestral Healing (Balistikal, Cité-des-Hospitalières)

As the world slowly opens up, we begin to celebrate and heal with each other. At a time when collective healing is needed more than ever, the Chimbites and Plastique Famille are hosting Almas from November 10-15 at Chapelle de la Cité-des-Hospitalieres, raising money for Balistikal's Anti-Clinica.

Almas (Souls) is a week-long exhibit centred around the re-interpretation of spirituality through a queer, anti-colonial lens and the deconstruction of ancestral trauma linked to religion. Tickets available HERE

By RICO SERNA via Chimbites

CHIMBITES is an international artistic network born in Tiohtià:ke / Montreal and Colombia in 2020, when Rico Serna and Julicore began working together to curate, develop and produce fundraising events. Their work is rooted in intersectionality and mutual aid, focusing on raising awareness and redistributing opportunities and resources, aiming for global equity.

With members in Bogota, Barcelona and Montreal, their goal is to organize exhibitions and events to showcase, empower and connect LGBTQIA+, BIPOC artists, while fundraising for their communities. By booking artists from near and far, they seek to provide a common international platform that provides equal compensation for their work.

PLASTIQUE FAMILLE is an artistic entity born in Mexico in 2016 founded by Diego Israel and Monica Olvera, operating as a platform to create, develop and launch ideas. Their work orbits around new technologies, decolonial practices, critical thinking, and social relationships in arts & culture. PF has been based in Toronto since 2017, with different members worldwide. They have grown into an established newcomer organization by creating and engaging with different communities, developing artistic management, which centres a human approach in our interactions with the artists and their work. They seek to understand needs more holistically, engaging with artists on many aspects of their process, co-creating pathways that suit their needs in terms of mental health, ability and financial capacity.

Chimbites and Plastique Famillie aim to (re)appropriate the colonized segregation space, "the church," by showcasing artists from various backgrounds to create a sacred space for our community to express their artistic views on spirituality, mental health, and healing. A "ceremony" will take place on Saturday, featuring performers and musicians, aiming to raise funds for a mental and spiritual health fund for Balistikal, an LGBTIA2S +, Afro-descendant, indigenous and migrant community in Latin America.

Cité-des-Hospitalières via Chimbites

Balistikal is a community organization whose mission is to heal, transform and cultivate the Afro and Indigenous LGBTIQ+ community. Their Anti-clinic offers healing services such as Tarot, Oracle, Astral chart, sexology, dream interpretation, Reiki, meditation, and more. Their next event will take place on November 18, and they need our support to raise funds to offer 80 free spots for Trans and Black individuals in need of healing services.

By NEAGONORREA, LAKRAS, OTRUS EXTRAVIADUS via Chimbites

The Cité-des-Hospitalières is a former convent based in Tiohtiá:ke, also known as Montreal, the unceded traditional territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation. It constitutes a unique spiritual and sensory space, protected from the turbulence of the city by the wall of the formerly cloistered complex. The Cité has been open as a transitory space in recent months, inviting innovative projects that re-imagine inclusive and transformative uses of this exceptional heritage site.

Featured artists: PABLO BARESCH (Video Performance), DIANE GARCIA RAMOS (Sculpture), EDSON NIEBLA ROGIL (Short Film), NEUS LAKRAVIADUS (Short Film & Photographs), SANTIAGO MENDEZ & GABRIEL PITO (Photograph), JOSÉ L. MENÉDEZ (Painting), RICO SERNA (Photography), PRINCESS PRADA, PASTIZAL ZAMUDIO (Performance), JULICORE & SANTIAGO HURTADO (Short Film)

With performances by Kokettte, Araya Guanipa, and Zi1oj and musical performances by Chivengi, Deidre Opal, Syana Barbara

Sensorial Environment by Diane García Ramos, Earth Note Scents/Daniela Madrid, Corium, and onyyysumo

Emotional support on-site in collaboration with AGIR Montréal Thursday 11 & Friday 12

Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th, 15:00-18:00 - On November 10, 11, 12 and 15, free admission, donations will be accepted at the door.

The venue is wheelchair accessible. COVID-19 Protocols will be followed.

---

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

---

Related Articles