The Festival
History
• 1995: The Festival Accès Asie (FAA) is founded by Bernard Nguyen and Janet Lumb to develop the presence of Asian diaspora communities in Quebec’s artistic and cultural landscape.
• Founding members include Asian artists, community activists, and entrepreneurs.
• 2002: The festival team moves into its first official office at Le Gesù – Centre de créativité, where the FAA still has its headquarters today. Its influence and range of activities gradually expand, and the number of artistic proposals presented multiplies.
• 2004: The Government of Canada designates May as Asian Heritage Month (decision adopted by the Canadian Senate in December 2001). The FAA approaches the City of Montreal to also recognize May as Asian Heritage Month.
• Thanks to the joint efforts of the FAA and Helen Fotopulos (mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough from 2002 to 2009 and honorary committee member of the FAA), the City of Montreal proclaims May as “Asian Heritage Month” through a City Council resolution on April 27, 2004.
• November 2012: Janet Lumb, co-founder and artistic director of the FAA, steps down. Khosro Berahmandi, part of the team since 2001, becomes General and Artistic Director. In the following years, he successfully programs 21 festivals.
• 2018: The FAA expands beyond Montreal with Fleur de lys, Fleur de thé (FLFT). This nomadic platform, initially created in 1998, had not taken off due to lack of human and financial resources. In 2018, FLFT is revived in Sherbrooke. The goal of this mini nomadic festival is to showcase the work of Asian artists in regions of Quebec, where cultural offerings are less diverse than in Montreal.
• 2020: Karine Kerr-Gillespie becomes General Director, prompting a major reflection and restructuring of the FAA: human resources policies, digitalization of the organization, job redesign, and operational streamlining.
• 2022: The festival launches Confronting Racism Together, a platform fighting racism and promoting social justice through the arts, organized as part of Montreal’s anti-racism action week in March.
• 2022: The festival is nominated for the 36th Grand Prix of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, recognizing outstanding contributions to Montreal’s cultural scene.
• 2022: Khosro Berahmandi, FAA’s Artistic Director, receives the Charles-Biddle Award, honoring his exceptional contribution to cultural and artistic development in Quebec through the festival’s programming.
• January 2023: The arrival of Nayla Naoufal as Artistic Director marks a new cycle for the festival, focusing on adapting to new trends in cultural dissemination and mediation, and developing new partnerships. The artistic vision evolves, balancing continuity with renewal in programming.
• 2025: The festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary, with an edition that honors its history and marks the arrival of Ziya Tabassian as Artistic Director.
Festival Accès Asie wishes to honor the many individuals who have founded and supported the organization. A special thank you to the following people who have contributed:
Co-founders
Bernard Nguyen
Janet Lumb
Founding Members
Avy Anthy Loftus
Khosro Berahmandi
Rebecca Chong
Patrice Fouché
Hunt Hoe
Salman M. Hussain
Viviane Schami
Himmat Shinhat
Atif Siddiqi
Nancy Tatabe
Milton Tanaka
First Supporters
Jim Wong Chu
Chris Creighton-Kelly
Sharon Fernandez
Saheed Khan
Desh Pardesh
Vivienne Poy
Zainub Verjee