Bringing together Montreal-based grandparents and grandchildren, Liens/Ties is a unique moment of sharing that aims at shattering the separation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liens/Ties sheds a light on the often-unexamined relationship and the unconditional love between grandparents and grandchildren. This integral and deep generational bond is so rarely explored and is so vital to our society’s well being. Liens/Ties offers a space beyond the constraints of time and modern life where these two generations can share and connect.
Liens/Ties is a sound and video installation—an immersive environment to experience the world of intergenerational connection. An aerial soundscape weaves fragments of conversations into layers of images.
Sunday September 26 from 12 to 8 PM *
Thursday September 30 from 5 to 8 PM
Friday October 1 from 5 to 8 PM
Saturday October 2 from 12 to 6 PM
Sunday October 3 from 12 to 6 PM
Reservation for 5 guests at a time. Duration: 15 minutes.
Le Café du Pavillon Monument-National
1182, boulevard Saint-Laurent
Montréal
* In presence of the creators.
Part of the Journées de la culture
Free!
Arianna Bardesono (Directing 2007) is a director and theatre maker based in Montreal. She has directed for various theatre companies in town, both in French and English. As a theatre maker, Arianna experiments in contemporary theatre practices, realizing projects that push the boundaries of theatre both in form and content.
Arianna is part of the teaching faculty at the National Theatre School of Canada, Concordia University and Dawson College.
Photo credit: Stéphanie Chriqui
Rose Plotek (Directing 2007) is a theatre director and performance maker based in Montreal. The inquiry of Rose’s work investigates form and aesthetic, with experiment being a driving force of both development and presentation. Her work is often developed through inter-disciplinary collaboration and workshop. She was Associate Director of the Directing Program at the National Theatre School of Canada from 2013-2018. She is an associate artist at Centaur Theatre. Born and raised in Montreal, she graduated from the Theatre program at Concordia University and the Directing program at NTS. Recent works : Like Mother, Like Daughter (Why Not Theatre & Complicite, UK) ; Performance about a woman (OFFTA, Tiger Dublin Fringe; SummerWorks).
Photo credit: Maxime Côté
potatoCakes_digital is the award winning production design, digital arts, and technical services company of Emily Soussana (Set and Costume Design 2017) and Andrew Scriver (Production Design and Technical Arts 2015). Formed as a collective in 2018, they have been unofficially working together for over six years as an all-encompassing artistic and technical team offering digital dramaturgical support, production management, and technical direction--as well as designing video, lighting, sound, set, and costumes for live performance, installation, and digital art in Tiotia:ke and across Canada.
The company’s mandate is to technically helm and realize singularly cohesive designs for productions as a whole from conception to performance. Some of potatoCakes_digital’s main interests involve the integration and interrelation of technology and traditional art forms, and the exploration of how visual and digital art can help facilitate and elevate the telling of a story. Their philosophy of creation is story and character based, and in such intent, all design elements become characters in their own rights.
Jesse Peter Ash (Production Design and Technical Arts 2007) has been working with Sound for 20 years - designing, composing and mixing for theatre, film, and installations and pursuing personal sound and music based projects. Having been involved in over 100 productions & projects his work has been heard by ears across Canada and around the world. Standout experiences including contributions to Mob (Centaur), Mutable Tongues (PDA), The God That Comes with Hawksley Workman (2B), Waiting for Godot (Stratford), En Attendant Godot (TNM), Robert Wilson's Mind Gap Exhibition (Norsk Teknisk Museum), his own piece Aural Histories: Monument (Third Space) as well as touring with Needles and Opium (Deus Ex Machina). In addition to Sound work Jesse spent several years creating multimedia installations as a Technical Director with Montreal’s Moment Factory. Jesse is a Production graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and Audio Engineering Technology from O.I.A.R.T and teaches Sound Design at John Abbott College.
MacKenzie (she/they) is a queer creator, designer, photographer and technical director based in Tio'tia:ke (Montréal). Since graduating from the Production Design and Technical Arts program at the National Theatre School of Canada (2019), MacKenzie has been across Canada and internationally.
MacKenzie is a multi-disciplined artist with a love for creativity and expression. She strives to create experiences and develop work that is interactive and immersive, blurring the boundaries between stage and audience.
MacKenzie’s style often draws from illustration, print, interactivity, subtlety, the uncomfortable and the odd. She often finds herself experimenting with several ideas to produce unique and challenging art. At NTS she focused on technical direction, lighting and video design, always searching for a creative outlet.
Currently, MacKenzie is involved in several projects including an international dance piece, a performance installation and photographing new works. You can find out more at her website; mackenziepoole.com
The National Theatre School of Canada’s Community Engagement team, and theatre makers Arianna Bardesono and Rose Plotek are bringing together Montreal-based grandparents and grandchildren in a unique moment of sharing that aims at shattering the separation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
8 pairs of grandparents and grandchildren will engage in spontaneous conversations over a virtual online platform. These conversations will be recorded, edited and will find completion in the form of a sound and video art installation available to the larger public.
HOW DOES THE PROJECT WORK?
The project will start by bringing together teenagers and their elders who are willing to participate and are interested in having a conversation.
In anticipation of these conversations with their grandparents, the grandchildren will be led through a series of workshops focusing on interview techniques, generating questions and identifying shared themes of interest.
No performance experience is needed to take part! You are already the experts of the real stories we are after!
YOU ARE A GREAT CANDIDATE FOR THIS PROJECT IF
Be assured that the safety of our participants is at the heart of our concerns. We will apply the measures in accordance with the directives issued by public health for the recording, filming and presentation part of our project.
For grandchildren
- April 2021: introductory conversation with facilitators and grandparent (with legal guardian consent).
- May 15-22-29 and June 5, 2021: 4 workshops held online.
- Between May 30th and June 14th, 2021: one recorded interview.
For grandparents
- April 2021: introductory conversation with facilitators and grandparent
- April and May: a series of conversations with facilitators
- Between May 30th and June 14th, 2021: one recorded interview.
Conceived by Arianna Bardesono & Rose Plotek
Sound Design by Jesse Peter Ash
Visual Design by potatoCakes_digital (Emily Soussana & Andrew Scriver)
Technical Direction by MacKenzie Poole