“Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet.”
—Paul Klee
“Can color intoxicate? Is it possible to become drunk on light?“
— Paul Salopek
If you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of the past month or so. you might recall that earlier this month, I went to Montreal, to cover the 17th edition of M for Montreal (M pour Montreal in French), an annual conference and festival, which takes place over the course of four days in late November in Canada’s second largest city. Since the inaugural edition back in 2005, M for Montreal quickly expanded to feature a selection of over 100 emerging, buzz-worthy and/or breakout acts from across Francophone Canada (Quebec, New Brunswick and parts of Ontario), the rest of Canada and a selection of international acts playing in showcases in Montreal’s top venues.
After the joint Music PEI and FOCUS Wales showcase at Cafe Campus on hilly Rue Prince Arthur East, it was necessary to check out as much of the murals and street art as I could see while under a somewhat tight schedule. Then there was a second stop Main Deli Streakhouse for a smoked meat poutine — because poutine on a snowy day just seemed like the right thing. And was it ever!I then took an unbearably uncomfortable but mercifully short Uber ride to Place d’Armes for a second stop at Basilique Notre Dame. Although I had been to the church back in 2019, this time, I burst into tears. It had been a long three years. And with the pandemic, and my concerns about my risks to mom’s health, it felt like any significant travel would be virtually impossible.
Goodness, the reverential silence, the luminosity of the light, the colors. It’s all so dizzying, so gorgeous.
