Highlights
Pique winter edition was an incredibly special edition! Over 1,000 audience members came through for more than 25 performances and presentations, 40+ vendors, and only 2 power outages, all under one roof.
We piloted new access points, like live music ASL and virtual reality, and experimented with spatial audio and site-specific installations. We also vastly expanded the Accessibility section of the Pique website, and provided a video tour of the building to help people know how to get around.
Guest curators Kingsley Swim and Crip Rave brought not only brilliant ideas for programming but also for community outreach and access.
Photos by Serena Yang. Contact us to request a photo to be removed.
Areas of improvement
We regret not doing a better job managing the mask mandate in Club SAW, and apologize to the community members that we let down in this respect. We understand that we need to do a better job when it comes to providing COVID-safer spaces at Pique, and will be discussing this more as a team. Improving accessibility at Pique is an ongoing process, and we are always open to feedback on how we can do better.
If you would like to share your thoughts, please write to us at hello@debaser.ca, or look out for our biannual Audience Poll in early 2024.
Photos by Oluchi Eze. Contact us to request a photo to be removed.
Thank-yous
Thank you to the artists and guest curators who participated in Pique winter edition!
Thank you to the partners, supporters and funders who made this edition possible: Arts Court, SAW, Ottawa Art Gallery, Produced by Youth, Possible Worlds, Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, the Canadian Film Institute, Artengine, Asinabka Festival, the Ottawa Dance Directive, Crip Rave, the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP), Carceral Studies Research Collective, the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, Whimble, and Pass the Vibes, with support from Kilam Media, Wall Sound, Collective Arts Brewing Company, Nando’s, David’s Tea, Planet Coffee, Black Squirrel Books, Octopus Books, Panago Pizza, Postering Ottawa, n.10.as, Apt613, and CKCU FM, and is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the Government of Canada through the Community Services Recovery Fund, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Canadian Heritage, the City of Ottawa, and the SOCAN Foundation.
Thank you to all of the volunteers: Khushi, Ben, Rafael, Nicholas, Sean, Melissa, Mia, Nebo, Ocean, Alexie, Geoff, Leo, Kieran, Karim, Stephanie, Augusta, Aksana, Muzzamil, Monika, zackaryer, Grace, Carlos, Somya, Katie, Zachary, Cansu, Jude, MJ, Julia, Gloria, and Mercedes
Photos by Curtis Perry. Contact us to request a photo to be removed.
Thank you to the crew - full credits below!
Graphic designer: Najeeba Ahmed
Harm reduction lead: Willow Cioppa
Video marketing manager: Mailyne K. Briggs
Technical Director: Nick Schofield
Production Coordinators: Pierre Richardson, Tyler Nykilchyk, Khushi Sen
Technicians: Fabien Laurent, Mikayla Gordon, Simon Labelle, Maxime Brunet, Sebastien Perry, Arturo Portocarrero
Joel, Glen C., Laura Wheeler, and Jason Sonier
Video/live stream Producer & Director: Mailyne K. Briggs (Kilam Media)
Video/live stream Engineer & vMix Operator: Chris Lascelle
Live stream video switcher: Violet Manh
Video/live stream PTZ Operator: Greg Bamber
Camera operator Poet Express
Broll videographers: Anona Kosmack, Clark Paul-Hector
Stage managers: Maeve Tavakoli, Zoe Mallet, Ryan Schroeder, Fabien Laurent
Stage hands: Olivia Onuk, Tyler Nykilchyk, Khushi Sen, Philippe Charbonneau, Chris Aris and Mo Salaudeen
VR team: Morley Mason and Seth
Art Market manager: Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter
Art Market crew: Dimitri Georgaras, Chris Aris
Production assistant: Katie Manners
Bartenders: Shameen, Marin, Lisa and John
Coat check attendants: Jean-Luc, Jerry, Meghan, Fletcher, Hamda, Justin, Ember
Caterer: Phoebe at BanhMiYes
Driving services: Hardeep and Ruishi at RidesAreUs
Printing: Tony D
Photos by Peter Wiercioch. Contact us to request a photo to be removed.
Debaser staff:
Director: Rachel Weldon
Programming Manager: Tafari Hall
Programming & Dev Coordinator: Sandra Ngenge Dusabe
Operations and Comms Coordinator: Calum Jeacle
Debaser Programming committee
Nneka Nnagbo, Lougien Dawoudiah, Mars Ramlogan, Rodrigo Medrano, CONTRA
Debaser Board of Directors:
Francella Fiallos, Brodie Conley, Felicity Hauwert, Elsa Mirzaei, Simone Provencher, Sarah Conn, Meghan Aubin, Pauline Mousseau, Kate Day, Tsenu Zelleke