FSQ links socially engaged art and activism

This province has always stuck me as a place where idealism reigns and where arts & culture are a long-standing political lever. So I figure that the Forum social québécois, a mashup of hundreds of activists and artists to take place August 23-26, just might be the most Québec event of the summer.

It starts with over 300 workshops and conferences along 8 themes: human rights, environment, social programs, workers’ struggles, arts & culture, democracy, international solidarity and ethics & spirituality. It’s a real feast for those of us with rather schizophrenic interests. I, for instance, am hoping to catch a round-table on green roofs organized by Alternatives, and then do a quick switch from eco-nerd to artsy-geek mode for a conference about the role of open-source software in creating independant social movements.

While hundreds of local activists - ranging from the political to the pot-smokin - are certainly a key ingredient, that alone is not the recipe for a total Québec experience. That’s whey the Forum also brings together 128 activités culturelles, including music, theatre, film, and visual art, with curiosity-piquing titles listed here. They promise to be interactive and surprising - take a moment to picture Sunday at Tam Tams or a stroll through the festival Juste-Pour-Rire and I figure you might get a sense of what’s in store.

But this is no venue for purely frivolous art: according to the conference program, this event will “promote socially engaged art, as chosen modus operandi to evolve towards more dynamic social movements.”

Fitting upwards of four hundred activities into four days is, perhaps, the most impressive feat that the FQS aims to accomplish. According to the website, they are relying on auto-programmation which means that participants are meant to schedule and execute their own activities within the Forum’s framework. I guess it just wouldn’t have that local flavour without a good dose of total cahos!

I’ll be blogging from the conference at UQAM on Aug 23rd-26th. If anyone else would like join in person you can sign up here, (registration costs 20$) and give me a shout. I might need a steady hand to hold amid the whirlwind of good intentions.