Simon Brault To Speak In Vancouver

Simon Brault, Canada Council vice-chair, CEO of the National Theatre School, and the author of No Culture, No Future, will give a talk in Vancouver at 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 6 in the Birmingham Studio at the Scotiabank Dance Centre.

Mr. Brault will be joined in a panel discussion by Max Wyman and Amir Ali Alibhai. Alliance president and Museum of Vancouver CEO Nancy Noble will moderate an open forum following the panel's discussion.

Admission is free but advance registration is required at rsvp@allianceforarts.com indicating whether you will be coming on your own or bringing an additional guest (or more).

Mr. Brault has been described as being both a member of Canada’s cultural establishment and an iconoclast dedicated to its reimagining. He is the chairman of Culture Montreal, a grassroots organization that over the last decade brought together governments, business, and Montreal’s arts community to design and pay for a cultural renaissance in the city.

No Culture, No Future, originally published in Quebec as Le Facteur C, is a defence of culture in three parts: a survey of policies historical and ideal, a philosophical rumination on the centrality of culture to human life, and an account of Brault’s ongoing efforts to turn Montreal into an international cultural capital.

The book is an impassioned manifesto that argues for the importance of the arts in society. Besides highlighting its economic value, he explores the reasons why culture is of vital importance.

Mr. Brault also preaches a culture of inclusivity: that instead of erecting barriers between high art and mainstream art, between the elite and the mainstream, we tear them down.

Mr. Brault was closely associated with the Forum d'action des milieux culturels de la Métropole from 1994 to 1999. He also initiated Journées de la culture, a massive undertaking first held in 1997 to popularize the arts and culture across Quebec. During the Sommet de Montréal in June 2002, he led a delegation of 20 leaders of the cultural community. He was chief organizer and chair of the steering committee of RV07 - Montreal, Cultural Metropolis (2007). 

In 2008, Mr. Brault received the Canadian Conference of the Arts’ Keith Kelly Award for Cultural Leadership. That year, he was also appointed a Fellow of the Certified General Accountants' Association. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada. 

Mr. Brault's Vancouver talk is presented by the Alliance for Arts and Culture and the Scotiabank Dance Centre.