«Cuisine ta Ville» (Cook your city) is an arts and citizenship festival dedicated to promoting a better understanding of immigrants who make up the fabric of Montreal, from yesterday to today.
The scenography of the event is characterised by a series of 10 Tempo shelters reminiscent of both the refugee camps and Montreal's urban visual identity, in which intimate meeting spaces are created to make a better understanding of the other. The space of the event is also an installation course presenting various works in the public space.
The programme of Cuisine ta Ville is divided into three parts. The first one, is an artistic programming presenting performances and works produced by immigrants or questioning immigration issues. The second one is to create a cycle of conferences and testimonials - “The heart and the head” - in order to give the opportunity to Montrealers of all origins and all ages as well as to specialists to present to the general public various aspects of the immigration experience. Last part is called the cooking parties, where immigrants are invited to cook a home-made Montreal-style soup in front of the public, while having the opportunity to talk and share their experiences.
«Cuisine ton quartier» (Cook your neighbourhood) will be the local and shortened version of «Cuisine ta Ville».
In fact, based on the success of «Cuisine ta Ville» in downtown Montreal, the concept will be reproduced locally in eight (8) districts where more than 62% of newcomers are concentrated. This initiative will allow more proximity in the meetings raised (people belonging to the same district) in addition to reach families and individuals who would not travel to downtown.
In the summer of 2020, a kitchen tour of your neighbourhood will be held in the eight (8) districts on festive days already scheduled in the borough calendar. Part of the programming would be common to all districts and developed by ATSA, but a large place would be reserved for local flavours, especially in artistic performances, conferences and "parties" cooking.
The evaluation will be done through Testimonies, general surveys, and surveys «before-after».
The project is implemented by the City of Montreal in cooperation with the following entities:
- ATSA organisation – Quand l’art passe à l’action (When art goes to action).
- 8 districts of Montreal.
- Local artists and organisations.
- The citizens.
The Montreal Arts Council could join soon.
