Mandate

Artistic objectives are to :

• promote and advance contemporary intercultural artistic practice within the arts professional milieu in regards to creation, production, dissemination and outreach;

• initiate and facilitate intercultural exchange and dialogue within the artistic community, and diverse cultural communities at large;

• offer a space for experimentation and the presentation of hybridist intercultural forms within the upmost professional conditions;

• present local, national and international contemporary works drawing from diverse cultures throughout all continents;

• facilitate the professional development of culturally diverse artists through providing access, mentoring and

• organize and consolidate exchanges and partnerships with similar organizations municipally, provincially, nationally and internationally.

History

An independent, non-profit organization, le Regroupement pour le développement des pratiques artistiques interculturelles came about as a result of the Table de concertation sur le dialogue entre les cultures in 1990. In 1998, this same Regroupement with support from the City of Montréal, was entrusted with managing the MAI. Containing a theatre, a gallery, a café and two rehearsal rooms, the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) officially opened its doors to the public in May 1999. In 2007, the MAI and the Regroupement were merged into a single entity.

Each new season, the MAI offers a varied programme of professional artists and companies whose artistic practices and mandates are axed on cross-cultural engagement and exchange - exchanges which come about through the merging of aesthetic and cultural themes and customs and traditions stemming from distinct identities and cultures, and which, as a result, transform disciplinary fields rooted in cultural traditions, giving rise to hybridist artistic languages and forms. Innovation, sharing of resources and the involvement of artists are at the heart of the MAI’s mission.

Over the past 12 seasons, the MAI has presented over 4500 different performances (in theatre, dance, music and interdisciplinary arts) as well as exhibitions and has, overall, welcomed some 110,000 viewers and audience members through its doors.