Using art as the entry point to illuminate and investigate the realities and mythologies surrounding mental illness and addiction, RENDEZVOUS WITH MADNESS spotlights the human capacity for endurance in the face of great challenges.
The theme of RENDEZVOUS 2025 is “DISRUPT THE FOCUS”, a statement that questions which narratives are emphasized, and which are silenced.
Rendezvous With Madness continues to be a platform for artists, whose lived experience expand our understandings of living with mental health and addiction.
To disrupt the focus is to challenge the systems that define and contain what it means to live with madness, to interrogate the stories that have been written about us rather than by us. Every artist featured in Rendezvous 2025 is a disruptor. They move beyond acceptable narratives of resilience and recovery to confront the intersectionality of lived experience.
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Artwork by Michele Dickson.
FEATURING SOUND EXHIBITION 'LINGERING ECHOES'
Lingering Echoes brings into conversation personal sound-centered artworks by artists Aliyah Aziz, Ghislan Sutherland-Timm, Middle, Tanya Workman, and Winta Hagos. Collectively and individually, the artworks take up themes of resistance, collectivity, embodiment, silence, and resilience.
This exhibition is the result of “Sounding Spaces” course, part of the Train to Present program led by instructor/artist Nicole Marchesseau.
Our Rendezvous with Madness Festival Opening Reception takes place at the gallery (WA OFFSITE, 32 Lisgar St, 2nd Floor, Room 12) on Thursday, October 23rd from 5-6:30 PM. Join us for light snacks, refreshments, and opening remarks.
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SPONSORS, FUNDERS, PARTNERS, & SUPPORTERS
Post-screening Q&A featuring Director Kurtis Watson, Producer Rob Viscardis, family members as well as Valéry Brosseau and moderated by Mariam Zaidi. Photo by Henry Chan.
Guests at #RWMFEST 2024 Fundraiser Soiree at the Annex Hotel. Photo by Henry Chan.
Audience at #RWMFEST 2024 Workman Arts Member Shorts Program screening. Photo by Henry Chan.