IMPROVISATION INSTITUTE
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The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI), a partnered research institute centered at the University of Guelph, is excited to announce a new online festival celebrating improvisational art. Starting at midnight GMT on Aug. 8 (Aug. 7 at 8 p.m., EST), IF 2020 will livestream pre-recorded video/audio submissions from 150+ artists from 15+ countries. This 24-hour festival is free to attend and will feature a dynamic array of improvisational artists, including musicians, spoken word poets, dancers, and theatre practitioners.
The festival line-up has been curated by IICSI Director Dr. Ajay Heble (Founder and former Artistic Director for the Guelph Jazz Festival) along with partnering organizations from across Canada and around the world. Canadian festivals presenting artists include Hillside Festival (Guelph, ON), Suoni Per Il Popolo (Montreal), Coastal Jazz and Blues (Vancouver), and Mariposa (Orillia, ON); International presenters include Lasalle College of the Arts (Singapore), Sonic Arts Research Centre (N. Ireland), 17, Institute of Critical Studies (Mexico), and Onassis Cultural Centre (Greece).
“Music and the arts have long been important catalysts for imagining, and indeed often enacting, new ways of living together in the world,” Heble says. “I’ve been particularly struck by the way artists, arts presenters, and other organizations around the world have improvised community during these challenging times, how they have encouraged us to imagine the world anew.”
Speaking to the inspiration behind IF 2020, Heble credits URGNT, the Toronto-based online venue, as well as friends and colleagues in Italy at the University of Padua. “During a nation-wide lockdown in a country ravaged by the Coronavirus,” Heble explains, “these outstanding organizers hosted PANSODIA, their own amazing 24-hour online celebration in honour of UNESCO International Jazz Day.”
“I’m excited to be able to share our own 24 hours of unique programming,” Heble adds, “and to celebrate the ways in which improvising artists are using the resources at hand in the arenas that are open to them in order to make positive things transpire, sometimes in even the most challenging circumstances.” Bracing for the heartache of a summer without live music and arts festivals, this digital gathering will provide an opportunity for people to come together and be reminded of the incredible range of art that persists regardless of this pandemic.
This initiative is being made possible through support from numerous community partners, including the University of Guelph’s COVID-19 Research Development & Catalyst Fund, U of G’s College of Arts, and long-time IICSI partner Musagetes. The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation is generously supported through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Grant.
The IF 2020 festival line-up will be released on July 8th. The festival will be streamed on the IF 2020 website.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
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