MTL Uncovered: Artists in Montreal, at a Glance

On November 17, I ventured out to Theatre Paradoxe in the distant land of Ville-Émard to attend the sixth edition of MTL Uncovered, a multi-disciplinary art exhibit that combines visual art, live music and food in a multi-sensory adventure through the creative landscape of Montreal. Needless to say, I was anticipating this event.

Theatre Paradoxe is a 100 year old church that was turned into a theatre venue. The venue is quite large, but with more than 39 artists and all their accompanying fans, it felt like a tight squeeze at times, and some artists looked like they were piled on top of each other.

As you entered, to your left, there was a bar and the two featured restaurateurs for the event: Imadake and Le Gras Dur. There is a stage at the front of the venue where live musical performances were held throughout the night, from five pm to 12am, a total of 12 different artists. The attending crowd was unique. There were people of every age, and many people you wouldn't assume usually attend art exhibits, or at least not the same kind. Grandma and grandpa crossed paths with teenagers wearing yellow camo pants, and edgy art hipsters with septum piercings.

The art and their creators were as varied in style and in age as the audience, impressively so. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was happily surprised there had been a clear intent on variety. Though visual arts took the forefront, there was also fashion, written word, artisan jewelry, and sculpture. I must also give credit to the event for featuring people of colour and queer artists, though more space could have been made for indigenous artists.

Though more could have been done, it is clear that Arthur Kalimidis, the founder and operator of the event, understood something that many have been saying for years: consumers are looking for diversified points of view, and not just in spaces dedicated to minority groups, but also in what you could call mainstream events like these. If not out of decency and understanding that intentional efforts need to be made in mainstream events for underrepresented groups to hear their voices, it is also an excellent business decision.

MTL Uncovered is run by Landmark Events, Kalimidis' event planning company, and they have been running MTL Uncovered for two and a half years. After attending the Brooklyn Bazaar, Kalimidis was inspired to recreate the casual and cool atmosphere of the bazaar in Montreal. "If I did something like this in Montreal, I felt like it would work, people would have a lot of reasons to go."

One of the benefits of the event is that artists can sell directly to purchasers without having to charge extra for gallery mark-up fees. Kalimidis also said that if an artist brought in 15 or more ticket sales, they wouldn't have to pay to rent their space and would get a portion of walk-in ticket sales. Kalimidis expected about 1,000 people to flow in and out through-out the night

There was, unfortunately, a sour beginning to the event. General admission tickets were 20$, which I paid because I'm an independent woman who don't need no financial support (that is a bold-faced lie). After making my way inside the event, I started walking towards the displays when I was redirected by a security guard to the obligatory coat check, and told it was two dollars. "Do they accept debit?" I asked. "No, cash only." "Is there an ATM inside?""Unfortunately not," he responded, "but there is one just across the street in a TD."

And so, I huffed lightly and went back outdoors to go withdraw my coat-check money. My complaint is not for myself; I am an able-bodied young adult who can easily maneuver the the church steps and the icy side-walks to go withdraw my coat-check money. But considering this event is very friend and family focused, many people of my grand-parents' age were turned back outside to also get their coat-check money, up and down those church steps again. Would it have been possible to include the coat-check charge in the ticket purchase? I checked the ticket post-event for any indication that coat-check would be a) obligatory and b) an extra charge, but unfortunately there was no indication of such, nor on the event website or the Facebook event page.

You might be thinking, what a minute detail to fuss about, but it is unfortunate for an event that hosts local and mostly unknown artists to begin inconveniently. The devil is in the details.

I am looking forward to the Spring edition. I discovered many artists I would love to work with in the future, and I can only hope the next event will unearth even more Montreal talent. I did also walk out of the event with a lovely purchase myself. What can I say, I'm a lowkey art fiend. Support your local talents.

For a list of some of the musicians and artists featured, click on the link below (this also happens to be the event page):

https://www.facebook.com/events/453580678463479/