It’s not every day that the Chinese artistic community makes itself heard.
Apart from the large-scale collective show Shen Yunpresented every year at Place des Arts, the individual talents of artists from Asian communities are almost unknown to us.
With Eva Hu, the co-organizer of the Chinatown Spring Festival, Winston Chan, wanted to remedy this. “We started programming artists at the Asian Night Market, which we have been organizing for three years, he explains, but we wanted to create an event to mark the passage of the New Year, celebrated in several Asian communities. With the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, we found this formula. »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Winston Chan, co-organizer of the Chinatown Spring Festival
Winston Chan admits having had difficulty finding artists. “There is no platform for Asian artists, he regrets. I had to investigate social media, YouTube, TikTok. That’s how I found Chinese or Asian artists from Montreal. »
Among them, Anqi Sun, singer-songwriter from Montreal, who left China at the age of 21 to settle first in British Columbia, then in Montreal, to begin studies in music therapy. The 37-year-old artist sings for the electro-pop music group Ossa Project, while leading solo projects.
“I sing in English and Mandarin,” says Anqi Sun, who will perform three pieces she has composed on Sunday. “These are pieces of Chinese influence, but in a jazz style”, specifies this jack-of-all-trades, who hosts a podcast (Under The Sun) and a radio broadcast (Cha Party), where she met Asian artists.
Anqi Sun admits that her family – still in China – are not “thrilled” by her choice of career. ” They are worried. For them, it’s such a precarious job…” But obviously, that’s what makes her happy.
Meeting of several communities
Another participant in this spring festival, which celebrates the arrival of the year of the Rabbit – symbolizing calm, diplomacy and hope, Winston Chan informs us – is Andy Khun, a young Montrealer of Cambodian origin. 18 years old.
Unlike Anqi Sun, it was Andy’s parents who encouraged him to sing from an early age. Her mother, Vanna Khun, is a well-known singer in her country. She was on tour in Quebec when she met her future husband – Sivro Sak – who is also a musician. “I grew up with artist parents, says Andy Khun, so from the age of 6, I sang in events. »
Andy Khun, who is followed by just over 430,000 followers on TikTok (under his artist name Tobiruno), was a finalist at The junior voice in 2016.
The young artist – who is studying at CEGEP – speaks perfect French, Khmer and English, in addition to singing in half a dozen languages. Sunday he will sing Hallelujahby Leonard Cohen, in Mandarin, French and English.
The other artists expected on Sunday (between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) are Sophie Chen, Tamini, Mando, Miumiu, Hua Li and the Montreal Confucius School Folk Music Ensemble.
Winston Chan, who expects at least a thousand festival-goers to show up in Chinatown this weekend, insists on the presence of several artists from various Asian communities. “There are of course members of the Chinese community, but there will be, for example, people from the Vietnamese community [qui célèbre l’année du Chat]. »
A “suspended” installation by visual artist Karen Tam, Dragons chasing the moon, will also be inaugurated this weekend – and visible until March. A hundred traditional lanterns will complete this installation presented as part of the Luminous Moments in the heart of the island, rue De La Gauchetière.
The Chinatown Spring Festival will be held from Friday to Sunday at Place Sun-Yat-Sen, at the corner of Clark and De La Gauchetière streets.