Who Are We?

I invite you to be impertinent when you listen to poetry. Take it down off its pedestal and make it come alive. Bring poetry into the everyday and make the everyday fantastic. Live life as though it were a film or a novel.

— D. Kimm

The mission of Les Filles Électriques (LFÉ) is to create, distribute and archive interdisciplinary works of art and events related to text in performance. The organization was founded in 2001 by artist D. Kimm, who wanted a space that would reflect the spirit of experimentation and risk-taking that characterized her own art and her work as an artistic director. Of course, the organization is not only about girls; it works to create a public space for “different” voices.

The organization’s annual flagship event is the Festival Voix d’Amériques (FVA), devoted to poetry in performance and vocal experimentation. It is now the largest spoken word festival in Canada, celebrating its ninth year in February 2010. The Montreal Arts Council recognized the high quality and vitality of the FVA in 2004, short-listing it for the Council’s 20th Grand Prix. Over the years, the FVA’s Guests of Honour have included poet Patrice Desbiens, singer-songwriter Urbain Desbois, singer Chloé Sainte-Marie, Aboriginal playwright Tomson Highway, singer-songwriter Richard Desjardins, New York poet John Giorno and Acadian-born singer Marie-Jo Thério. In 2010, the FVA will feature American performer Ursula Rucker.

Les Filles Électriques offers a platform for original and emerging voices. It presents poetry in a way that is alive and accessible, whether in the form of stage shows, performance, publication, DVD, or compact disc. The organization mentors artists 18 to 30 years of age, and its website features biographical notes for some 500 artists. LFÉ is also an umbrella organization for a number of multidisciplinary groups including the duo Mankind, the band Erlenmeyer, and the research collective Brahmine, as well as several video-poetry projects. It does all this within a context of linguistic plurality.

In addition to producing artists’ shows, LFÉ puts its expertise and connections to work supporting “different” voices, including those of traditionally marginalized people such as street women. LFÉ has published two books in partnership with shelters for women-at-risk: Écrire et sans pitié (Éditions du Passage/l’Arrêt-Source, 2006) and ABCd’art de La rue des Femmes (Remue-ménage, 2007).

Les Filles Électriques is a charitable organization and can issue receipts for income tax purposes. Since its creation, the organization has:

• produced more than 130 shows and welcomed hundreds of artists at its Festival Voix d’Amériques
• produced a CD and shows for the Band de poètes
• published the CD and booklet Conte-moi un poème (Planète rebelle, 2004)
• produced the DVD Écrits et chuchotements/Page vs Stage featuring the work of fourteen Montreal spoken word artists
• produced Le Silence des hommes as a CD and live performance
• presented two shows that toured Montreal’s Maisons de la Culture
• presented La Salle des pas perdus at the Berlin Poetry Festival and at Ex-Centris in Montreal
• presented Mankind at Quebec festivals including the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Edgy Women, and Suoni Per Il Popolo; and internationally at the Berlin Poetry Festival (Germany), the Donau Festival (Austria), Musique Action (France), and Howl (United States)
• presented the art videos En attendant Corto Maltese; Si tu veux me garder, tu dois t’éloigner; and Qui est là? at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal) and the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
• created, in partnership with Wired on Words, the La Voix Électrique / The Voice Electric Award, to honour the body of work of a spoken word or poetry in performance artist
• sponsored a Jeunes Volontaires (Young Volunteers) project by the group Léopard et moi.