ATSA

ATSA (originally Action terroriste socialement acceptable, now officially known as ATSA, quand l'art passe à l'action / ATSA, When Art Goes Into Action) is a Quebec non-profit organization and registered charity founded in 1998 by artists Pierre Allard (1964–2018) and Annie Roy. Based in Tiohtiá:ke / Montreal, it creates, produces and distributes event-based, transdisciplinary and relational works in public space, both locally and internationally. Its mission is to challenge the public on crucial social, environmental and heritage issues through a playful yet impactful aesthetic, restoring the public square as an open space for encounter and reflection. The participatory dimension, engaging the public as citizens, is central to its approach, and it is committed to a feminist, pacifist and eco-responsible practice. ATSA is recognized for its expertise in artistic interventions in public space and is regularly invited to conferences, workshops and colloquia. It has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts (CAC), the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM), among others. In February 2021, founders Annie Roy and Pierre Allard were awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Civil Division, by the Governor General of Canada; the ceremony was held in 2023. That same year, they were honoured by the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership for the 20th anniversary of the Quartier des Spectacles. Its flagship works include the founding installation La banque à bas (1997), the long-running État d'Urgence (1998–2010), Parc industriel (2001), and more recent projects such as La Ferme (2025) and La montagnarde (2022). ATSA also organizes the annual event L'Art est dans ses feuilles at its artist residency La Montagnarde-ATSA in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard. The organization continues to be led by co-founder Annie Roy as artistic director and general manager, supported by a permanent team and a board of directors.

ATSA was founded in 1998 by artists Pierre Allard (1964–2018) and Annie Roy, following their 1997 founding installation La banque à bas. That work consisted of an automated teller machine for warm clothing, built from salvaged kitchen stoves and illegally installed in front of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. The oven doors served as deposit and withdrawal slots for warm socks, symbolizing a home and a place to warm up that homeless people lack. The installation denounced the huge profits of Canadian banks amid growing homelessness, while also responding to the lack of visibility of public art during the exhibition De fougue et de passion at the MAC. After negotiations with Place des Arts and the museum, the installation remained on the street for more than two months and distributed over $15,000 worth of warm clothing to people on the street. ATSA was born shortly after with the aim of using art for social justice, environmental protection and heritage preservation. In 1998, inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the organization created État d'Urgence. The event took the form of an actual refugee camp in the heart of downtown Montreal, open 24 hours a day for four to ten days. Until 2010, this "manifestival," offering dormitories, three meals a day and a multitude of services to isolated and homeless people, allowed hundreds of artists to reflect aesthetically on extreme precarity and present their work in a context of direct encounter and concrete help. Hundreds of volunteers and businesses gave this social encounter its civic meaning, experienced as a resistance to individualism and the degradation of social relations. In 2008, ATSA published Quand l'art passe à l'action, a 144-page monograph designed by orangetango. Several committed personalities, writers and sociologists, including Laure Waridel, Dinu Bumbaru, Guy Sioui Durand and Sonia Pelletier, contributed to this work, which retraces ATSA's history and puts into perspective the issues raised by the interventions of artists Annie Roy and Pierre Allard. In 2009, Magnus Isacsson and Simon Bujold made a documentary about the group titled L'art en action. In 2010, following a controversy over cultural subsidies, the group was taken to task by Heritage Minister James Moore regarding the use of the word "terroriste" in their name. Following cuts in subsidies, the group had to cease État d'Urgence. That same year, they were awarded the Prix Nature de l'art Pratt & Whitney Canada from the Conseil des arts de Montréal. ATSA then decided to continue the gathering on Place Émilie-Gamelin in Montreal by refocusing on a central creation and reducing certain services. The new version, titled Fin novembre, is an interdisciplinary event inviting Montreal audiences and people living in precarity to attend and participate in varied, free artistic and solidarity activities, with the aim of creating a unique encounter between two worlds that usually ignore each other. On April 22, 2012, ATSA participated in the creation of the world's largest human hand alongside Dominic Champagne. Between 250,000 and 300,000 people gathered in Montreal to march from Place des Festivals to Mount Royal Park. Over the years, ATSA has organized numerous activities and demonstrations, including Parc industriel (2001), a fake archaeological site made of waste reflecting on today's consumer society; À vos marques (2001), an installation at AmericanCan on the cult of work and performance; and Les Murs Du Feu (2002), an incendiary evening and walking tour on the history of Montreal fires. In February 2021, Annie Roy and Pierre Allard were awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Civil Division, by the Governor General of Canada; the ceremony was held in 2023 due to health measures. That same year, they received a tribute from the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. ATSA continues to create and produce new works, including La montagnarde (2022) and La Ferme (2025), and operates the artist residency La Montagnarde-ATSA in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.

• 2025

  Creation of La Ferme.

• 2023

  Meritorious Service Medal ceremony held; tribute from Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.

• 2022

  Creation of La montagnarde.

• 2021

  Annie Roy and Pierre Allard awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Civil Division.

• 2012

  Participation in the world's largest human hand with Dominic Champagne.

• 2010

  État d'Urgence ceases; awarded Prix Nature de l'art Pratt & Whitney Canada; launch of Fin novembre.

• 2009

  Documentary L'art en action by Magnus Isacsson and Simon Bujold.

• 2008

  Publication of the monograph Quand l'art passe à l'action.

• 2002

  Les Murs Du Feu event.

• 2001

  Parc industriel and À vos marques installations.

• 1998

  ATSA founded by Pierre Allard and Annie Roy; creation of État d'Urgence.

• 1997

  Creation of La banque à bas, founding installation in front of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

Non-profit arts organization using event-based, transdisciplinary art in public space to raise awareness of social, environmental and heritage issues.

• 1997

  La banque à bas

  Founding installation: an ATM for warm clothing made from salvaged stoves.

• 1998

  État d'Urgence

  Interdisciplinary manifestival in the form of an urban refugee camp open 24/7.

• 2001

  Parc industriel

  Fake archaeological site made of waste reflecting on consumer society.

• 2001

  À vos marques

  Installation at AmericanCan on the cult of work and performance.

• 2002

  Les Murs Du Feu

  Incendiary evening and walking tour on the history of Montreal fires.

• 2010

  Fin novembre

  Interdisciplinary event on Place Émilie-Gamelin.

• 2022

  La montagnarde

  Artist residency and Art-Nature Trail in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.

• 2025

  La Ferme

  Project on feeding an intelligent future, presented at Outremont Theatre.

• 2026L'Art est dans ses feuilles

1. 1ATSA - Homeatsa.qc.ca
2. 2ATSA - Mandateatsa.qc.ca
3. 3ATSA - Our Teamatsa.qc.ca
4. 4ATSA - Partnersatsa.qc.ca
5. 5ATSA - Wikipedia (French)fr.wikipedia.org
6. 6ATSA - Wikidatawikidata.org