Contest – The Concordian

Looking to start building up your CV? Check out these upcoming opportunities for emerging artists, including callouts, job listings, networking events, and more!

Discover

First and foremost, be sure not to miss “Datura,” now on view at Espace Maurice (916 Ontario St E Suite 320) until Feb. 17! Curated by Concordia alumni Marie Ségolène C. Brault in her apartment gallery, “Datura” brings together a selection of idiosyncratic works that were created by an eclectic group of artists during a brief residency in Youngstown, Ohio in the fall of 2023. A catalog of the exhibition, beautifully designed by Brault, is now available for presale online.

Window exhibition alert! La Centrale galerie Powerhouse (4296 St Laurent Blvd) is hosting Métis artist Maria-Margaretta’s window display exhibition titled “she makes all things good;” an autobiographical exploration of motherhood and cultural identity. The installation will be on view from Dec. 15 through Jan. 28.

Emma-Kate Guimond, a performance and video artist who earned her BFA in contemporary dance from Concordia University in 2011, is currently exhibiting her show “The Plot” at Centre Clark (5455 Ave. de Gaspé, #114). Guimond’s exhibition neighbours Hédy Gobaa’s show “le devenir pizza” in the adjacent gallery space. Both exhibitions will be on view until Feb. 17.

Concordia’s FoFa gallery (Concordia EV building, ground floor) has opened its first exhibition of 2024. Their undergraduate student exhibition, “embodied urgencies,” features the work of twelve brilliant artists from Concordia’s fine arts programs. The show will be on view until Feb. 17.

Open Calls

Carte Blanche, an online literary magazine based in Montréal, is open for submissions for their upcoming Issue 48 until Feb. 15! The theme is open, so submit your poetry, creative nonfiction, comics, photography and more! Read more on their website here.

La Centrale galerie Powerhouse has put out a call to its members for workshop proposals as part of the gallery’s June festivities. Members are encouraged to consider the needs of Montréal’s creative community and propose workshops that will contribute both their practical and creative skills. Workshop facilitators will receive an honorarium of $350 to go toward their project! The deadline is Feb. 29 at midnight. Learn more about the open call here, and if you aren’t a member already, sign up here!

Concordia’s InARTE Journal has put out a call for submissions for their 14th issue, “Enter Play,” which poses the question of how the notion of play informs an artist’s practice or visual language. Artists are invited to submit their playfully creative work by Jan. 30. Learn more on their instagram here.

The call for proposals for the 11th Emerging Scholars Symposium, organized by Concordia’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS), now has an extended deadline! Graduate students and recent alumni now have until Jan. 26 to submit their proposals to present their research at any stage at the conference, which will take place on March 21–22. The theme for this year is “Enacting social change through storytelling.”

The Concordia Film Festival (CFF) is a student-run, non-profit festival partnered with Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema (MHSoC). They are looking for submissions for the festival’s 51st edition, due by Jan. 31. The films submitted need to have been made between May 2022 and April 2024, and cannot be longer than 15 minutes.

Black artists from all of Concordia’s fine arts departments are encouraged to apply for the ASAC x FASA pop-up shop, which will take place in Concordia’s Webster Library (LB Atrium) on Feb. 15 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The deadline to apply for a table is Jan. 26.

Contest

The Writers Union of Canada is accepting submissions for its 31st annual Short Prose Competition for emerging writers. The winner will be awarded a $2500 prize! The deadline to submit is Feb. 19, 2024. Visit their website to learn more.

Opportunities at The Concordian!

Want to see your artwork featured in a newspaper paper? Submit to The Concordian’s Arts & Culture section! Our artist spotlight series will be providing a space for Concordia’s fine arts students to showcase their recent artwork. Send your poetry, photography, or documentation of physical works or performances along with a brief biography (100 words) and an artist’s statement (250 words) to artsculture@theconcordian.com for a chance to be featured in print! If you are a digital artist or filmmaker, submit your work to be featured on our website!

Are you a graphic designer or illustrator? We are looking for artists to create original illustrations to accompany our creative writing submissions. If you are interested in illustrating poetry, prose, short fiction, and creative nonfiction, please submit up to five examples of your work to be considered for assignments, or email our Arts & Culture Editor Emma Bell for more information at artsculture@theconcordian.com.

Which poutine will you be voting for?

When you think of February, what comes to mind? Valentine’s day? Superbowl? I think of La Poutine Week!

This year, La Poutine Week spans over two weeks from Feb. 1-14. I had the chance to speak with Na’eem Adam, co-founder of La Poutine Week. Adam founded La Poutine Week alongside his colleague Thierry Rassam.

“This started off as a hobby for Thierry [Rassam] and I. Every year, this festival has grown to become more and more a Canadian festival, than [a] Montreal or Quebecois festival,” Adam said.

Adam explained that when people think of poutine, they think of Montreal or Quebec. But poutine has really been a dish that has become popularized outside the province.

“There are more than 1,000 locations all across the country that are participating in the festival. In the last 11 years, poutine has become a Canadian celebrated dish,” Adam said.

Adam explained that the best part of La Poutine Week is the multiculturalism from the participating restaurants who offer dishes like a Thai poutine, a Piri-Piri poutine, Indian-influenced poutine, and much more.

You can find a list of all the participating restaurants in your area on La Poutine Week’s website.

“The mission that we have had since the beginning was to help support local restaurants. We just wanted to find something that would pull people together to try poutine guilt-free,” Adam said.

You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to participate in the festivities, as La Poutine Week has partnered with DoorDash and Sysco.

Adam highly recommends trying the poutines in-person and voting for your favourites on the website.

That is exactly what I did over the past weekend.

I live near Paulo et Suzanne, a 24-hour diner located on Boul. Gouin in the Ahuntsic Cartierville borough of Montreal. The poutine that they entered in the festival was Poutine Pop’n’Hot.

As I walked into the diner, I saw the big colourful sign that had a picture of the Pop’n’Hot. When I sat down, I immediately ordered that.

Pop’n’Hot poutine for La Poutine Week. Dalia Nardolillo/THE CONCORDIAN

When my order had arrived, I was overwhelmed to say the least. It was huge. The poutine was made up of hot peppers, popcorn chicken, SouthWest sauce, fries, cheese curds and of course gravy.

When I took the first bite it was like a flavour explosion in my mouth. The peppers provided a good source of heat to cut through all the fat from the cheese curds and gravy. The only thing I would omit would be the SouthWest sauce. I rate that poutine an 8/10.

To vote and rate poutines, you have to make an account on the La Poutine Week website.

The Pop’n’Hot was such a delicious poutine that it made me curious to know what other poutines are out there. I was able to speak with president of the Fromagerie Victoria franchise Marc-André Gosselin. He told me all about this year’s poutine.

“It’s called the Rétro. It has fried pickles, coleslaw and smoked meat,” Gosselin said.

This year’s poutine from Fromagerie Victoria is a collective idea from all the participating franchises.

If this hasn’t gotten your mouth watering yet, I don’t know what will. This year’s edition of the festival promises some exciting poutines.