July 3, 2013 – Celebrating indigenous cultures from across the Americas, the twenty-second edition of the First Peoples’ Festival will take place in and around Montreal from July 31 to August 8, 2012. It’s an opportunity not only to experience the richness of imagination expressed by so many Native cultures, but to hear the voices and learn the stories of diverse First Nations groups from across North America and beyond.
A point of convergence for numerous aboriginal groups, the First Peoples’ Festival features a wide array of music, art, cinema, poetry, and cuisine by indigenous peoples. Taking place at the Place des Festivals (as well as other locations), the event also includes a number of interactive activities.
Centre stage
On the Loto-Québec stage at Place des Festivals, Florent Vollant, the world's most famous Innu, will appear in concert on August 2, and will be followed a day later by a major electronic music concert, co-presented by MEG Montréal: the Ojibways of A Tribe Called Red will share the stage with Amazigh performers DJ Mood and Foulane. The Festival’s final weekend also includes a celebration show featuring emerging artists.
On August 6, poetry takes the stage with performances from four prominent Innu poets in an evening entitled Le Nitassinan dans mon rêve, co-produced with BAnQ and presented at the Grande Bibliothèque.
The view through a different lens
The cinema segment of the festival is headlined by a number of premieres, including the great Aboriginal filmmaker Ivan Sen’s Toomelah, which will make its Montreal debut, as well as Apu ui Nepaian (I Don’t Want To Die), a world premiere, which follows Montreal homeless people through a healing process in the forest. Finally, Tropico do Saudade (France 2011) follows the footsteps of Lévi-Strauss in Brazil, as the closing film.
More than just a taste
To make sure guests get more than just a taste of First Nations cultures, Bistro Le Contemporain (at the Musée d’art contemporain) will offer authentic First Nations menus for the occasion, featuring pre-colonial Mexican cuisine and new Innu cooking.
As part of the event, the McCord Museum will also host an exhibition and discussion of Inuit art, the Canadian Guild of Crafts will showcase recent works of Christine Sioui Wawanoloath, and upcoming Mohawk printmakers will be featured at Oka and Kahnesatake.
