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

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.

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.

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