Raising Awareness about Homeless with Art: Le Temps d’une Soupe

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Text Rachel Levine

Part art installation, part social awareness project, ATSA and La Nuis des Sans-abri de Montreal (NSA) join together this weekend to generate awareness about hunger and homelessness. Pierre Allard and Annie Roy have produced an event at Place Émilie-Gamelin to raise awareness (first as État d’Urgence and later as Fin Novembre). The goal is to bring the public in contact with some of its less visible members and raise awareness about homelessness. A key feature of the installation is the shared soup — daily different restaurants provide meals to those participating several times a day. Diners are paired together and given a menu of conversation starters along with their meal. As they leave, each pair is also photographed and given a brief, pithy caption to summarize the encounter.

Similarly, La Nuit des Sans Abri is meant as an act of solidarity where homeless individuals and others join together to generate awareness as well as emphasize the urgency of the problem. La Nuit Sans Abri takes place on Friday October 16 across 30 different cities in the province. In Montreal, events that take place during the night include speeches by public officials, a cabaret show, and guest artists.

Events continue throughout the weekend, including political humour, films, DJs, and a soccer match. You can check out the schedule here.

Below are some photos from the first night of the event.

Le Temps d’une Soupe takes place October 15-18 at Place Émilie Gamelin.