When thinking outside the box just isn't enough
ShazamFest celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a great program full of music, skateboarding competitions, wrestling, burlesque, circus, laughter, workshops and so much more. The festival starts Thursday July 9 and runs until Sunday. Camping is available on location, at one of the first certified organic farms in Canada. Also, you can join the fun on Sunday […]
A few weeks ago, I sat down with David Boots to discuss his documentary Peace Park and the issue of legalizing skateboarding at the Park. Melanie Renaud: How did you first end up at Peace Park? David Boots: Back in the early 90s, I used to skate at the City Hall. There were about a hundred skaters there, all the […]
The 19th edition of the international graffiti convention Under Pressure is upon us! It is the largest and longest running festival of its kind in North America. Started by Montreal graffiti artists to show the positive side of street art, it is an event for the community and by the community. Everyone involved in making it happen […]
Our fair city is just a little bit more colourful than it was since the second edition of Mural Festival took place last month. Local and international artists painted 20 new murals along the Main. The festival started under the rain but thankfully the sun came out just in time, allowing the artists to work […]
Last March, I heard the film Making A Name, a documentary on Montreal’s graffiti scene, was screening at the FIFA Festival and got tickets right away. I was lucky because it was the only screening of the movie and it sold out quickly. Patrick O’Connor, the man behind this amazing project, started photographing the Montreal […]
Well it’s already that time of the year, time for Nuit Blanche as part of Montréal en Lumière Festival. The 11th edition is as packed as ever and spread out across the city. From Quartier des Spectacles to downtown and Old Montreal to the Plateau/Mile End area, east to the Olympic Park and to the newest Nuit […]
Many things happened in the Montreal arts scene in 2013 and Forget The Box was there! Let’s take a look at some of the highlights: Stage Early February, Cabaret 87 at Sala Rossa celebrated the 25th anniversary of AIDS Community Care Montreal. It was a very successful evening hosted by Antonio Bavaro and Ryan Ghinds with performances by […]
Last Wednesday night, I was invited to participate to my first Sociale event with a lovely group of ladies at the Musée d’Art Contemporain. The event was called Wine, Cheese and Art Evening, a great mix of some of my favorite things in life. I was intrigued to discover what Sociale was all about and […]
Following my latest article on volunteering, I must now write about my favorite volunteer experience so far which is at the Fresh Paint Gallery! The Fresh Paint Gallery is an alternative and self-financed project managed by the Under Pressure festival’s team of volunteers. The first gallery opened up in 2011 and was located in an […]
Back in the days, when I was younger, my sister would do a lot of volunteering and I would simply not get it, I would wonder why you should spend time doing something for someone else and not get any money for it. Well, that has changed over the years. Now I get it and I […]
The Under Pressure international graffiti festival was on last weekend along Ste-Catherine between St-Laurent and Hotel-de-ville and what a great event it was! For its 18th edition, mother nature backed up the festival with beautiful weather, which was enjoyed by everyone. Sterling Downey, the founder of the festival, told me during a phone interview that […]
The 18th edition of the Under Pressure Graffiti Festival is about to take place over the weekend. After a bit of a scare that the city wouldn’t support the Festival with the usual street closure, it seems that all is now ready to go! The Festival started in 1995 as an inside event called Aerosol […]
When I received the email from Irreverend James and the Critical Mass Choir announcing a free show at the ARTVstudio on Thursday July 4, I knew I was going! And I am definitely very happy to have been to a lovely performance in a very intimate setting (there were about 100 people there). The event […]
Wow! How much fun was the MURAL Festival! What a success for a first edition, everything was well set up and everyone looked very happy. St-Laurent was packed with people Friday and Saturday, a beautiful sight. A sight which is one of the reasons for the festival, to evelop and upgrade the Main by bringing […]
As of Thursday night, Citizen Vintage, (5330 St-Laurent) will be hosting the vernissage of the Snapshot Project for a few days. The Snapshot Project was thought of last September by Cleo and Christyna, both new to Montreal. The girls figured this would be a great way to get acquainted with the city and to understand […]
The past few days on St-Laurent have been amazing! Beautiful weather and great artists expressing themselves on many walls along the Main which will leave an outstanding legacy! My two favorite walls are off the Main on Clark Street, Pixel Pancho is just behind Mont-Royal and ROA’s is just below Marie-Anne, well worth checking out […]
