Join Inspired Word Café in collaboration with the Centre culturel francophone de l'Okanagan and Espaces francophones UBCO for a bilingual night of poetry and performance in French and English.
The event will open with a short open mic, followed by headlining performances from Natasha Kanapé Fontaine and Xénia Gould. The event will end with a dance and sing-along party featuring DJ Guizo LaNuit and DJ Daddy spinning sizzling solstice beats. This multilingual event is also our celebration of National Indigenous Peoples day, and will feature a welcome from Coralee Miller. Priority for the Open Mic will be given to French Speakers and Indigenous Peoples.
Natasha Kanapé Fontaine is an Innu writer, poet and interdisciplinary artist from Pessamit, on the Nitassinan (North Shore, Quebec, Canada). She lives in Tio'tia:ke - known as Montreal.
Xénia Gould is a multidisciplinary artist from Shediac (Es-ed-ei-ik), New Brunswick. She works in theater, drag and poetry. She currently lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal).
Guizo LaNuit is the drag character created by transdisciplinary artist Alexis O’Hara featured in CBC’s docuseries Canada’s a Drag. Alexis and Guizo are mainstays of the Tiohtià:ke-Montreal cabaret scene.
DJ Daddy is your local Québécois niche & kitsch beats and chanson peddler, and an overly enthusiastic karaoke host.
Participez à la soirée de poésie et de performances bilingue (français, anglais) présentée par Inspired Word Café, avec la collaboration du Centre culturel francophone de l’Okanagan et d’Espaces francophones UBCO.
La soirée va commencer par une courte séance micro-ouvert (open mic: venez lire vos poèmes au micro!) avant d'accueillir les têtes d’affiche Natasha Kanapé Fontaine et Xénia Gould. Après la poésie, la fête! Venez danser et chanter à tue-tête sur les rythmes sensationnels choisis par Guizo LaNuit et DJ Daddy, les oiseaux de nuit sensibles du solstice. Comme cet événement multilingue souhaite célébrer la Journée nationale des peuples autochtones, Coralee Miller offrira le mot de bienvenue. À noter: le micro ouvert accordera la priorité aux personnes autochtones et aux personnes souhaitant lire en français.
Natasha Kanapé Fontaine est une écrivaine, poète, et artiste innue de Pessamit, dans le Nitassinan (Côte-Nord, Québec, Canada). Elle vit à Tio'tia:ke - Montréal.
Xénia Gould est une artiste originaire de Shediac (Es-ed-ei-ik), au Nouveau-Brunswick. Elle œuvre au théâtre, dans la drag et en poésie. Elle vit actuellement à Tiohtià:ke - Montréal.
Guizo LaNuit est un personnage de drag créé par l’artiste transdisciplinaire Alexis O’Hara qu’on a pu voir dans la docu-série Canada’s a Drag (CBC). Alexis et Guizo sont des incontournables des cabarets de Tiohtià:ke-Montréal.
DJ Daddy est ton DJ québécois maison spécialisé dans les rythmes et chansons niche et kitsch - doublé d’un animateur de karaoké un peu trop enthousiaste.
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New Leaves Festival of Arts and Culture
Inspired Word Cafe has always put the needs of our community first and foremost. After the Fireweed Eco-Fest, we wondered, would we do another Eco-Fest or create something unique? We wanted to continue with festival programming, but we needed to create programming that aligned with our values, listened to the needs and interests of the community, and could change alongside it. The inaugural New Leaves Festival of Arts and Culture takes the idiom “turning over a new leaf” as inspiration to focus on an annually changing theme speaking to expressed/urgent needs of the community.
Responding to a recent rise in anti-LGBTQ2SIA+ sentiment in the Okanagan and beyond, the 2024 New Leaves theme is “Queer Art as Resistance,” focussing on celebrating queer arts through drag, poetry, music, comedy, dance and more. For three days in Kelowna’s downtown core, a host of artists from from the Okanagan and across Canada will perform (in both French and English) and put on workshops.
Queerness isn’t always about gender or sexuality, rather, as scholar Janet Jakobsen writes, it’s also “resistance to norms and normativity.” Following this, New Leaves 2024 will not just celebrate LGBTQ2SIA+ voices, but explore art’s potential for resistance and change. In gathering for New Leaves 2024, we ask: How might art shift long-held societal perceptions of LGBTQ2SIA+ and other resistant communities? How might coming together to celebrate the contrast in our community help grow it into a safe and inclusive space for people from all walks of life?
For more event listings and to check out the full Festival offerings: https://www.inspiredwordcafe.com/new-leaves-festival-of-arts-and-culture
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Accessibility: TBC
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Thanks to our sponsors and funders / Merci à nos commanditaires et aux organismes subventionnaires suivants:
The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
Okanagan School of Education
City of Kelowna
British Columbia Arts Council
The Government of Canada
Espaces Francophones UBCO
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Land Acknowledgement
Inspired Word Café acknowledges that this festival is being held on the unceded ancestral lands of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples. For more information, please visit https://www.syilx.org.
Reconnaissance territoriale
Inspired Word Café reconnaît que ce festival se tient sur les territoires ancestraux, jamais cédés, des Syilx Okanagan. Pour plus d’informations, visitez https://www.syilx.org.
