VIVA! Art Action is a biennial performance art festival based in Montreal, Quebec. It was founded in 2006 by Alexis Bellavance and Patrick Lacasse in collaboration with six different artist-run centres in the city. The festival usually spans over the course of a few days, during which performances, discussions, installations, and shared meals take place.
The next edition is programmed for October 7âÂÂ11, 2025 at L'Union Française, in Downtown Montreal.
Viva! aligns itself with practices of performance, , body art, happenings, and more. The festival's mandate prioritizes experimentation, encouraging artists to take risks and challenge their practice. The festival usually showcases projects that are relational, durational, ephemeral, or infiltration based, amongst others.
In 2006, the artist-run centers involved in the establishment of VIVA! were Centre SKOL, Centre Clark, Articule, Dare-Dare, La Centrale, and Praxis. As the festival found its organizational structure throughout the years, different forms of collaboration have emerged. VIVA! now stands as its own collective, not simply a joint effort between centres. However, Montreal's art centres are still involved in supporting the event. In 2023, the organizations listed as supporting the festival included Centre Clark, Dare-Dare, Oboro, and Le Lieu.
The festival receives funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Quebec, Conseil des Arts de Montréal, and the City of Montreal, amongst others. Community fundraising also contributes to the continuation of the events, namely through off-season events and donations during the festival.
From 2006 to 2013, VIVA! took place at the Bain Saint Michel, located in Montreal's Mile End neighbourhood. This building housed a historic bathhouse, inside of which an empty swimming pool acted as a stage.
In 2015, the festival moved to Ateliers Jean-Brillant, in the Saint-Henri neighbourhood. Programming stayed there until 2019, at which point the COVID-19 pandemic affected operations for a couple of years and interrupted the planned 2021 edition.
Resuming in 2023, VIVA! took place at l'Union Française, a cultural center located in Downtown Montreal.
Throughout the festival, meals are offered in a convivial manner, to be shared amongst artists, organizers, volunteers and the public. In every edition since 2006, a different artist or collective has run the kitchen as a part of their artistic practice. The project is offered as a type of art residency adjacent to the festival.