Intercultural Conversations-Conversations Interculturelles programme, Cole Foundation, Montreal, Canada. Deadline: Sept. 27, 2019.
Now in its 11th year encouraging theatrical dialogue between the various cultures in Montreal. Cole Foundation is pleased to announce the latest grant winners for the Intercultural Conversations-Conversations Interculturelles (IC-CI) programme, initiated to encourage greater understanding of Montreal’s cultural mosaic by having audiences enjoy professional plays that present stories and issues of diversity on stage. For the past ten years the Foundation has focused on intercultural and racialized theatrical conversations for their community initiatives. This has created an award-winning catalogue incorporating themes of inclusion and cultural dialogue. Adding to those, the programme has now expanded to include stories with and about other marginalized communities such as LGBTQ and people with a disability. This year$490,400 was granted, the highest amount of award money since the IC-CI programme’s launch.
Heading into the 11th year of this invaluable program, commissioning grants are more sought after than ever. “We are buoyed with the rising interest of companies creating their own Quebec narrative, one that encompasses our diverse reality,” said Cole. The plays, stronger and stronger from year to year, encompass a widespread range of cultures and the varied communities within them. Works include themes and ideas about questioning one’s community connection without knowing the language or following traditions; reconnecting with lost roots; exploring what it’s like to come from two different cultures and races; falling in love with the ‘enemy’ from another religion; the stigma of disabilities; women suffering the consequences of war; the stress of immigrant children; our accepted history of the settlement and occupation of the Canadian West; shame amongst members of marginalized communities; the current crisis in Venezuela; notions of sovereignty and nationalism; intergenerational impacts of the residential school system; and Muslim women on the path to self-determination. Performance styles include comedy, drama, multimedia, dance, spoken-word, musicals, storytelling, mask work, cabarets, staged readings and using virtual reality devices.
Grants for the next competition relate to shows starting March 1, 2020 and for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 theatre seasons. The deadline for the next competition of the award is Sept. 27, 2019. Theatre companies interested in applying for a grant will be able to download the necessary application forms and information from the Cole Foundation’s web site at: www.colefoundation.ca/community/competition-forms.
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