Comments on: Montreal

By: sid

sid — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:01:04 +0000

thanks for spelling Bishop’s correctly, now if we could get La Press to do it too!

By: Donovan King

Donovan King — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:56:59 +0000

I thought the article was a great one, and I think I agree with the theory in general. Sadly, it is true that anglophone artists in Montreal get almost no support. Our bilingual & multicultural critical arts festival, http://www.infringementfestival.com, has run for 5 years and has never received a penny in support from any level of government. Our sister fest in Buffalo, NY, on the other hand, is the biggest in the city and gets ample coverage, and probably some support. The fact that we run a fest with over 100 acts on less than a grand attests to the fact that the city is creative, but it doesn’t bode well for non-capitalist, non-corporate, or critical artists. Many of the organizers struggle just to stay afloat, so it was refereshing to read that there are theorists out there who are thinking about us. However, who will protect the artists from the gentrification that is driving them out? There needs to be a system of checks and balances to protect the creative classes from capitalist exploitation, otherwise these cities will end up stale and dull, hollow shells of their previous existence.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:49:59 +0000

Great article.

Alanah, you raise a valid issue and I’ve noticed the same phenomenon. I always joke that I wish I went to McGill, so that I could have been a student in Montreal. But post-school, there just doesn’t seem to be the opportunities in Montreal.

I think the issue of infrastructure, particularly the idea of high-speed rail, is critical. As evidenced by Canada’s first national railway, which “unified” the east and west, trains have huge socio-political impacts. And as the last Canadian election showed, Quebec votes like it’s its own country.

Maybe a Great Canadian High-Speed Rail Project is what is needed to bring our linguistically fragmented country together. Hey, if England and France can do it, why can’t Ontario and Quebec do it?

By: Alanah

Alanah — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:57:57 +0000

As a creative Montrealer, I really loved getting your perspective on this city…I also have a question for you and your readers…

Many artist friends have told me that they find Montreal to be an inspiring, nurturing community, yet there is no money to be made from the arts in Montreal. I think that this is partially a language issue: the local audience available for English arts is tiny; yet the global reach of French media is also a small pool. Consquently you have Anglos singing in French to score some radio time, and Francophones grumbling about the lack of grants for English language arts in Quebec. Meanwhile, everybody still needs a day job, and if they are not fluently bilingual, it is probably pretty dull.

I’ve always perceived there to be a great transience among creative Montrealers (especially anglos.) The Arcade Fire story is emblematic of Montreal in more than one way: students and artists from around the country flock to Montreal to find that spark of creativity – and then move on when it comes time for the “real world”. Even born-and-raised Montrealers will often stay in the city out of love rather than any great opportunity.

Is transience characteristic of other creative cities? What impact does this have on the city’s ability to get ahead of the curve?