Simon-Olivier Gagnon

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) Residency

2026

Defrocked beatmaker, oral testimony practitioner, and archival explorer – these are the lenses through which Simon-Olivier Gagnon approaches his craft. From community radio in Québec, the Northwest Territories, Scotland, and France – as creator, volunteer, administrator, and researcher – he turns community and radio archival material into tools for interrogating memory, culture, and social questions.

In recent years, he has carried out creative projects that highlight the archives of the communities of Radio Basse-Ville CKIA-FM in Quebec (Faire parler 30 ans de différence), CIVR Radio Taïga in Yellowknife (YK Transit dans les archives), and the Québec student spring (2012 : Mémoires à faire). As part of his doctoral research in archival studies, he has also presented contributions in the journals Archives, Criminocorpus, Ethnologie, Jeu, Resonance – The Journal of Sound and Culture, as well as with Presses de l’Université Laval. These contributions are accessible via this research blog, as are the Remue-mémoires chronicles, presented on the program Québec Réveille, broadcast on CKIA-FM 88.3 FM.

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ)

In 2008-2009, in partnership with Québec's Ministry of Culture and Communications and the Ministry of International Relations and the Francophonie, and on the recommendation of Arts Council England, Conseil des arts et des lettres (CALQ) approached Acme to establish the Québec Studio in London, thereby expanding the network of residencies offered abroad to Québec artists and writers. The residency provides two six month long residencies per year in Bow, E3 for artists who have at least 10 years' experience of professional practice. Applications and selection are undertaken directly by CALQ.

For more information visit calq.gouv.qc.ca