An added day of programming and International Women’s Day focus brings even more innovative and inclusive arts programming to Ottawa’s Pique festival this spring. Pique spring edition returns this March with its second multi-day edition of the signature music and arts festival, taking over the Arts Court in downtown Ottawa. Featuring groundbreaking performances, striking art installations, and thought-provoking presentations, Pique is a convergence of creativity and innovation that welcomes international artists and communities.

We’re looking for knowledgeable members of the Ottawa-Gatineau arts community (and beyond!) to help shape the artistic direction of upcoming Debaser events and programs, including our quarterly festival, Pique.

Announcing our 2025 Audience Poll! We want your thoughts, gut feelings, and hottest takes. Take a moment to provide feedback on the year behind us and help guide our direction for the year ahead!

The 15th edition of Pique welcomed 1,000 people to Arts Court for performances, exhibitions, installations, and an Art Market featuring nearly 50 artists and creators. What a way to cap off a beautiful year of music, art, and community.

A few months ago, we provided some transparency about how our pay-what-you-can ticketing revenues broke down. We revealed that only small percentage of ticket buyers pay more than the base suggested price for their tickets, while approximately 1/3 of tickets to Pique are subsidized.

Today, we offer a status update, share some testimony about what the ticket subsidies mean for recipients, and urge those who can to pay-it-forward by purchasing by paying more for their ticket to Pique winter edition.

The semi-annual art market at Pique is back this season, and submissions for artist vendors are now open!

Debaser is proud to support and endorse the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel or PACBI, and the call for Arms Embargo Now! on Israel, in solidarity with the people of Palestine and their fight for liberation from Israeli occupation and genocide.

Topique returns with 5 illuminating sessions focused on ballroom culture and technique, DIY electronic arts, and artistic solidarity and resistance.

SUBR صبر is a duo (Lougien Dawoudiah and Nicholas LePage) that creates abstracted soundscapes rooted in Palestinian traditional sounds and field recordings. The soundscapes are built by layering multiple speakers that correspond to reconfigured music controllers.

Victoria Shen is a sound artist based in San Francisco. Shen's sound practice is concerned with the spatiality/physicality of sound and its relationship to the human body. Her personal identity; her body; is the space her work utilizes to restructure sonic meaning…She pioneered the use of Needle Nails, acrylic nails with embedded turntable styluses, which allow her to play up to 5 tracks of a record simultaneously. These sculptural elements invite the viewer to unpack one’s relationship with material possibilities for creating sound.

The change of season once again brings an exciting music and arts convergence at Pique’s fall edition, happening on September 28, 2024 at the Arts Court. The 14th edition of Ottawa’s signature underground art party, Pique brings together groundbreaking music, visual, and interdisciplinary artists for a building-wide festival at the Arts Court in downtown Ottawa.