SlamOutaouais Grand Finale and Recycl'Art: a winning combination to end the summer

Sonia Roy

The SlamOutaouais final, which took place on August 28, brought together poets, artists and a hundred or so spectators at the Ruisseau de la Brasserie park for a few verbal jousts under the sun. This final was the last local competition before the selection of the delegation of slammers who will represent the Outaouais at the provincial slam championship. The winners of the regional final will have the opportunity to participate in the provincial championship that will take place in Montreal in September 2022. The next step, the world championship, is scheduled for June 2023, in France. The Outaouais could well be represented at this event, as the region is particularly well known for its many talents, of all ages, and the richness of their vocabulary. The poets who will represent the Outaouais in September in Montreal are Guy Perreault (first place), Myriam Legault-Beauregard (second place), Josette Noreau (third place) and Diane Tremblay (fourth place). The event was hosted by Louise Natalie Boucher, known by her pseudonym LouNat, a world-renowned slammer who recently participated in the Grand Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris, which hosts the best slammers from around the world each year. LouNat placed 6th among her international competitors. Coming up in Gatineau: the launch of the 15th edition of SlamOutaouais, which will be held on October 2, 2022, at the craft brewery (À) La Dérive.

The regional final of SlamOutaouais closed this last weekend of August, but also the fifth edition of Recycl'Art Gatineau, an original exhibition organized by the Centre d'art contemporain de l'Outaouais (CACO), which was in place from August 9 to 28, 2022. The purpose of this annual initiative is to "encourage artists to produce and disseminate works made from elements recovered from industry, nature and our environment [...], to regenerate materials and give them a new artistic life". The creations of the 25 participating artists were scattered along the Ruisseau de la Brasserie park during this period, created under the theme "Big-Bang", in reference to the post-pandemic context. 

Photo caption: The SlamOutaouais final at Ruisseau de la Brasserie Park

Photo credit: Courtesy of SlamOutaouais