EVENT

October 15, 2022 Erosion Eksperyans by SIKA VALMÉ

Event
Music
Mixed Arts

PHI Centre Space A
315 Saint-Paul St West
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 2A3

Doors: 7 pm
Show: 8 pm

Free, but reservations are required

Facebook Event Facebook Event ↗ ↗

Important: The public will not be allowed to take photos or film during the performance. Thank you for keeping your phone off throughout the evening.

Before visiting, please review some essential information about the visit, including details on accessibility at the Centre.

For more details on safety measures in place at the PHI Centre, visit our COVID-19 page.

An immersive audio / visual experience presenting the new body of work by Sika Valmé. Incorporating performance, artwork, a listening session, panel discussion, and opportunity for audience interaction with the artist.

Vin tranpe sans nou nan yon eksperyans odyovizuèl kap prezante nouvo kreyasyon Sika Valmé yo.

Presented by
- KEPKAA
- SIKA
We acknowledge the support of the
- Canada Council for the Arts

Erosion (English-French) Eksperyans (Haitian Creole, synonym to Expe(é)rience in English-French), refers to the constant transmutation of one state of being into another, through time, lived experience and self-renewal. In this new series of songs and illustrations Sika showcases milestones from her personal journey, revealing pieces of identity and her self-actualization process. The work touches on themes of physical and chemical phenomenon of erosion in the natural world, and the parallels within human development.

SIKA VALMÉ

Sika Valmé is a contemporary Creole-Canadian musician, performer and illustrator. Her music and graphic universe give rise to an immersive synergie of sonic and visual stories. She was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and currently resides between Montréal, New York, and Mexico. As a reflection of Sika’s many migrations, her creations craft timeless narratives that find inspiration in geometry, the natural world, and in the human experience. Her work continuously illuminates elements of her diasporic journey, thus offering a fresh cultural perspective. Erosion Eksperyans is Sika’s re-imagined take on a modern electronic soundscape, bringing traditional beats and rhythms from her Haitian origin to masterfully make her own creole signature sound. Sika’s creations act as a unique bridge that encapsulates the junction between the tropical and the northern worlds.

Instagram ↗
Facebook ↗

SPECIAL GUESTS

MAGUY METELLUS

Moderator

Maguy Métellus is a mistress of ceremonies and animator who exudes life. An Afro-feminist activist, highly sought-after Haitian-Quebec speaker and reader, Maguy is also an artist of the spoken word, passionate about poetry and words. Member of the Haitian collective "Les Dimanches Littéraires de Montréal", she is recognized for her eloquence, her charisma, and her ability to express herself joyfully in French, Creole and English.

From 2002 to 2007, she organized and hosted 'Les Dimanches Afrocentrik, evenings of poetry, music, song and dance', at the Salon Daomé. It welcomed artists from the Montreal scene and elsewhere, both established and emerging. From September 2006 to July 2016 she was at the helm of her own show, 'D'une île à l'autre' (DIALA), on CPAM - 1410 AM. From October 2013 to June 2014, she organized and hosted the Ciné-mardis du Vétiver. In May 2016, she joined forces with writers H. Nigel Thomas and the late Horace I. Goddard to create the Lectures Logos Readings evenings.

ALIX BUYU AMBROISE

Alix Buyu Ambroise is a legendary Haitian Jazz saxophonist. Buyu, as he is known, is based in New York, but was born in Haiti, and lived in the Republic of Congo as a youth. He has been performing in New York City for more than 35 years, playing Haitian Kompa music and Jazz. Despite a long absence from his homeland, Buyu’s roots in Haitian culture remain strong. His melodies are inspired by the rich repertoire of Afro-Haitian music sustained with modern jazz harmonies. From the story-telling traditions of his records Blues in Red, Marasa, and Jazzpora, he has crafted a fruitful combination of traditional Afro-Haitian beats and smooth improvisational Jazz grooves. Buyu has revealed a natural relationship between the complex polyrhythmic structures in both the North American form and the Afro-Caribbean sound of traditional Haitian music. This fusion was the birth of a new musical style that encompasses the two and blends them effortlessly. Although this subgenre of World Jazz is considered cutting edge, Buyu's recordings and live performances are executed with a spirit and level of mastery that invoke a gentle blend of harmonies that have matured on Haitian and American stages for generations.

PHI Event Centre Sika Valme ALIX v2 — Photo: Heidi Gutman-Guillaume

ANDY BARROW

Growing up across Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean, Andy Barrow has been exposed to a multitude of varying musical styles. Well-versed as a guitarist, bassist, producer and mixing engineer, his music has been featured on major networks and cable TV, such as HBO, Showtimes, Comedy Central, HGTV, TLC, Food Network and MTV to name a few. Nominated for a Grammy in 2014, Andy is currently working at Audio Network writing and producing for film and TV. He has worked with many haitian artists, but also as the touring guitarist for the metal band Gears.