Les Filles électriques was founded in 2001 by D. Kimm, its executive and artistic director. Its mission is to create, present and archive interdisciplinary events related to poetry and performed text.
The organization’s major event is the Festival Voix d’Amériques (FVA), devoted to poetry in performance and vocal experimentation. The FVA, celebrating its 7th edition in 2008, is the leading spoken word festival in Canada. In 2004, the Conseil des Arts de Montréal recognized the primacy and vitality of the FVA, shortlisting it for the Conseil’s 20th Grand Prix. FVA guest artists over the years have included poet Patrice Desbiens, singer-songwriter Urbain Desbois, singer Chloé Sainte-Marie, Aboriginal playwright Tomson Highway, singer-songwriter Richard Desjardins, and in 2008, New York poet John Giorno.
Les Filles électriques provides a platform for original, alternative and emerging voices, presenting poetry that is lively and accessible, in stage shows, individual performances, books, DVDs and on disc. It mentors new voices (ages 18 to 30) and maintains an online data bank featuring 500 artists. It also sponsors collective work such as the two-woman show Mankind, the Poètes publics tour, and poetry-video projects, all in a context of linguistic plurality.
Besides its work with artists, Les Filles électriques applies its experience and contacts to creating a space for alternative voices that are usually ignored – for example, the voices of street women. In these projects, the process is just as important as the end result – projects unfold organically, and are carried out with respect for differences, while being aligned with the reality of these women. Les Filles has published two books in partnership with women’s shelters: Écrire et sans pitié (Passage/l’Arrêt-Source, 2006) and L’ABCd’art de La rue des Femmes (Remue-ménage, 2007).
Since 2001, the organization has
• produced more than 130 shows and hosted hundreds of artists at the Festival Voix d’Amériques
• produced the CD and performances of Le Band de poètes
• released the CD-booklet Conte-moi un poème (Planète rebelle, 2004)
• produced the DVD Écrits et chuchotements/Page vs Stage showcasing the work of fourteen Montreal spoken word artists
• produced the poetry-music CD Le Silence des hommes
• produced the Poètes publics tour of Montreal’s Maisons de la culture
• presented La Salle des pas perdus at the Berlin Poetry Festival
• presented Mankind at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Edgy Women and Suoni Per Il Popolo (Montreal), Berlin Poetry Festival (Germany), Donau Fest (Kreims, Austria), Musique Action (France), and at Montevideo (France)
• screened the art video En attendant Corto Maltese at Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 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 work of an artist working in spoken word or poetry in performance
Les Filles électriques draws on the experience of its executive and artistic director, D. Kimm. Since 1994, she has produced shows that have left their mark on the literary scene, bringing together hundreds of writers, stage artists and musicians. Worth noting: her tenure as artistic director of Montreal’s Festival de la littérature (1995–1998). She has published four books and released a music-poetry CD/album (Le Silence des hommes with guitarist Bernard Falaise). She also works in collaboration with performer Alexis O’Hara with their Duo, Mankind. In 2008, they released their first CD, Ice Machine, which they premiered during their European tour in the spring of 2008.
Photo credit, Les Filles électriques images: Rolline Laporte
