Wood ashes I growl in the back of my throat. There will always be ashes waiting to be carried out. Cold, burnt out, the opposite of harmful. Composition of ash: animal to vegetable to mineral soul. […]
There is something obscenely theatrical about the Bhopal disaster. On the night of December 2nd 1984, a leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant caused a 27-ton cloud of methyl isocyanate to drift across the Indian metropolis of Bhopal, […]
[Editors’ note: We are publishing Patrick Barnard’s essay “The Ladder is Gone” in two parts: the first installment in this issue of Montreal Serai and the second in the next issue this coming Spring. In this first part of the […]
Popular Southern folk singer and autodidact guitarist, Matteo Salvatore’s pastoral hell themes weren’t observed from a privileged distance. He hailed from a very poor family that begged and stole vegetables in Puglia, where the Latifondisti exploited landless peasants. These […]
As an organization and as an arts, culture and politics magazine, we strongly endorse the statement below from No One Is Illegal: Déclaration communautaire : « Ensemble contre la Charte xénophobe » [English below] Nous nous opposons à la Charte […]
Neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, and basically anyone with an opinion still throw out many theories as to why it is that music actually exists. Some claim music’s evolution has a kinship with the evolution of language, and others say music is […]
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was the best-known Afro-American poet of the 20th century. His work also ranged from novels, to plays, to books written for children. And his newspaper columns in The New York Post were sources of amusement and insight […]
Montreal Serai requested a list of films that Productions Multi-Monde has produced on the topic music of protest. Below are some of these films. At the turn of the millennium, our team here at Productions Multi-Monde started to […]
“On ne parlera jamais assez de l’Afrique. De cette Afrique qui mange ses propres entrailles. Partout où point l’espoir, des coups de canon explosent, des chars prennent les corps humains pour du macadam. L’Afrique tue l’Afrique, entrouvre ainsi la porte […]
The Chinese in Toronto from 1878: From Outside to Inside the Circle By Arlene Chan Dundurn Natural Heritage. Toronto: 2011 Arlene Chan’s book is a historic gem chronicling the remarkable journey of Chinese Canadians, and their success in moving from […]
Norman Nawrocki … a Montreal legend for his music of protest – and for his daring, insurrectionary performance theatre — was interviewed for this issue by Rana Bose, Serai Editor and Montreal novelist. Norman’s new book details : Cazzarola!: Anarchy, […]
The word rebellion derives from the Latin rebellare, which means, literally, to restart warring. This suggests that it is a continuous state, something that is about remembering the struggle and what causes are worth fighting for. And then there’s the […]
In the 1960s, for at least a brief moment, Montreal became what seemed an unlikely centre of Black Power and the Caribbean left. In October 1968 the Congress of Black Writers at McGill University brought together well-known Black thinkers and […]
Bloomsbury, New York: 2013 Jaspreet Singh’s new novel, Helium, is about Raj Kumar, a scientist with a doctorate in Chemistry from Cornell University and an undergraduate degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. After an absence […]
Surojit Chatterjee came to Chicoutimi-Saguenay to celebrate the 20th year of existence of Mosaïque (a percussion and vocal band specialising in intercultural explorations). The public in Sagueany discovered his immense talent as a musician and singer; they also discovered his […]
In a country where Opera was invented, it is no wonder that love songs seem to be omnipresent and over-represented. On the flipside, amorous passions lead to political ones. The bulk of these protest songs about rebellion do indeed date […]
[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/spirodon/piano-in-the-atmosph-re[/soundcloud] Playing piano has been central to my involvement in social movements over the past decade. Although building melodies and improvisations on the keys can seem distant from holding banners at a downtown Montreal rally in the snow, the reality […]
„Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum.“ Frederick Nietsche Forget military parades and college football halftime shows. The term “martial band” might be more appropriate to describe the ethics and esthetics of a marching band culture which is all […]
RENCONTRE AVEC CLAIRE SIMON Dans le cadre du Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2013, en présence d’un public vivement intéressé a eu lieu hier la rencontre avec la réalisatrice française Claire Simon qui se trouve à Montréal pour la présentation […]
Veena Gokhale interviews award winning, Indo-Canadian playwright and actress Anusree Roy whose work comes to Montreal for the first time this fall. Anusree Roy has an impressive list of accolades to her name – three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the […]
MIBFF MIBFF MIBFF Gideon’s Army , 2012, US, is an HBO documentary following the stories of three public defense lawyers in the United States who are idealistic enough to work long hours, earn a miserable pay and sometimes suffer death […]
Aside from Georges’ edgy wit and his questioning and incisive mind, I most admire his unbridled delight in creating mischief (with his students, friends, fellow ninjas and of course rightwingers of any stripe), his enormous heart and his constant fund […]
Carlos Ferrand interviewed by Julian Samuel Carlos Ferrand was born in Lima, Peru. For the past 35 years he has worked as a filmmaker, screen writer, director of photography and he has directed several works which have been shown in […]
Editor’s Note: This commentary generated a lot of questions and raised many issues around the argument of the piece: How far can legislation be an answer to the issue? Should compensated surrogacy be supported at all? What about health risks […]
Why an issue dedicated to women and health? Because in 2013, even while women are increasinlgly becoming decision makers within the healthcare industry, women are also still dying during childbirth and fighting for their right to choose the care that […]
Voting Rights for Women Seventy-three years ago, on April 25, 1940, Bill 18 was passed, putting an end to electoral discrimination against women. Québec women were finally be able to vote and stand for office. This was a culmination of […]
Artist’s statement Through symbols and textures that echo Indigenous art and the memory of childhood I explore various themes that deal with our primordial connection to the natural world. Collagraph printing is my medium of choice. The flexible and […]
Maria Ezcurra Exposition Fils, tendances et dangers Maison de la culture de Nôtre Dame de Grâce Du 25 avril au 16 juin Vingt femmes Le textile, matière de nos vêtements, deuxième peau qui nous couvre, nous habille, nous protège, […]
The most important thing that a doula can do is the personal touch. A woman carries her birth experience through her whole life. It shapes her. To find out more about how a doula supports women and families during the childbearing […]
We manoeuvred out of a tight parking spot only to have a youth in a black pick- up truck gesture meanly at my driving companion: “Over here we don’t just cut off people like that, Christ! don’t you know […]
