Le temps d\u2019une Soupe<\/em> (2015-), one of the last projects piloted by the couple, explicitly embraces the concept of personal encounters to diffuse the fear of the other, redressing disinformation and misconceptions fed by the media in order to establish a positive and constructive relationship with otherness. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Translated from the French by Louise Ashcroft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exemplary of this militant and pacifist vision of creation is ATSA\u2019s motto \u201cWhen art takes action,\u201d which clearly emphasizes the promise of active engagement made by Roy and Allard regarding the incessant daily violence experienced by the most marginalized. Unique in the contemporary arts scene, the organization uses parody in its multidisciplinary and public installations to tackle head on social problems such as homelessness and the failure to respect fundamental rights \u2014 issues often rendered invisible by the more profitable interests of the art market. Soliciting spectator collaboration in the heart of the city, these installations are intended to contrast the virtuality of the images that punctuate social networks against reality to raise awareness about the obvious problems of poverty and social inequality in our immediate community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/95-DO-IM_Dubois_Rennes_20170708_2239_1124_CMYK.jpeg\")
Le temps d\u2019une Soupe<\/em>, since 2015.
Photo: \u00a9 ATSA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Without being stripped of aestheticism or symbolism, these \u201cactions,\u201d as Roy and Allard described them, are above all intended to awaken civic responsibility and stimulate dialogue. The best known of these was undoubtedly the annual \u201cdemo-festival2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u201d 2 <\/a> - \u00c8ve Lamoureux, Art et politique : Nouvelles formes d\u2019engagement artistique au Qu\u00e9bec<\/em>, Montr\u00e9al, \u00c9cosoci\u00e9t\u00e9, 2009.<\/span> L\u2019\u00c9tat d\u2019Urgence<\/em> (1998-2010). Taking the form of a refugee camp that, over the years, featured festive banquets and multidisciplinary art performances, distributed warm clothing, and provided improvised dormitories, L\u2019\u00c9tat d\u2019Urgence was both a militant act of civic resistance and a relational artwork capable of generating discussion and a collective questioning of the issues of poverty and isolation. Held during the run-up to end-of-year festivities, the five-day event aimed to inject a good dose of love and compassion into the capitalist carnival of decadence and individuality. A hybrid amalgam of transdisciplinary event, citizen engagement, and art practice, the project proposed interactive situations in which gestures of social engagement and art overlapped, and in which both neophytes and the initiated fully participated. Here, as in all of ATSA\u2019s projects, art played the role of mobilizing agent and conduit for relationality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Invited to participate in \u201cspontaneous paired conversations\u201d over a bowl of soup, two strangers sit face to face discussing diverse subjects related to living together. A lasting trace of these encounters is a photograph of each pair accompanied by a thought or reflection emanating from their discussion. Presented at three European festivals, in Canada (notably in the Far North in Inuit communities, where needs are vast yet resources are limited), and, more recently, in Lebanon, Madagascar, Morocco, and other places, Le temps d\u2019une Soupe has generated thousands of encounters and \u201cpoetic portraits,\u201d indisputable evidence of the possibility of rehumanizing the world through artistic action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/95-DO-IM_Dubois_20180210-16IMG_6371_CMYK-EXTRA.jpeg\")
Le temps d\u2019une Soupe<\/em>, since 2015.
Photo: \u00a9 ATSA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/95-DO-IM_Dubois_20180217-18IMG_8371_CMYK.jpeg\")
Le temps d\u2019une Soupe<\/em>, since 2015.
Photo : \u00a9 ATSA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
An icon of the renewal of engaged art at the turn of the 2000s, ATSA is still an emblem of a sensitive and supportive art practice characterized by real empathy and exemplary citizen engagement. Without claiming any consensus or acting in the interest of accolades, Roy and Allard have distinguished themselves as exceptional artists over the past twenty years through modesty, compassion, and devotion. With ATSA, artistic engagement is inextricably linked with the political and the civic, and is always infused with a touch of humour and humanity to dismantle, without minimizing in any way, the violence of the social problems that it tackles through Banques \u00e0 Bas<\/em> (1997) or bowls of hot soup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/95-DO-IM_Dubois_IMG_1155_CMYK.jpeg\")
Le temps d\u2019une Soupe<\/em>, since 2015.
Photo: \u00a9 ATSA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n