Valerie Khayat

Intense Introspection!

Valerie Khayat has honed her songwriting and poetry skills on an eclectic range of Montreal stages in recent years, from Catcall to Coco Cafe, and has found an enthusiastic audience for her intense brand of introspection. Her latest project is The Road to Vesper, a debut collection of poems ranging in form from soliloquies to letters.

"Originally, I didn't set out to write a book, but rather began actively recording different states of emotion and thoughts about a specific experience I was living", Khayat says. "I have always been deeply interested in exploring and understanding emotions in myself and in others."

She's launching Vesper with a live staging of the poetry, featuring a musical score by Kris Mah and a unique visual concept. "It seemed like a natural extension to have a dimension of performance to it", Khayat says. Tonight Thursday, July 12, at O Patro Vys (356 Mont-Royal E.), 7:30 p.m., $8

by VINCENT TINGUELY

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/071207/artsweek.html - Montreal Mirror - July 12, 2007

Profil: Val�rie Khayat
Auteur: Aicha Ciss�

(online (p.18): http://www.panoramitalia.com/panoquart_2/Q2_frameset.html)

� 24 ans peu d�entre nous peuvent se vanter d�ent�mer une carri�re prometteuse d�auteure-compositrice et po�te, le tout combl� par un dipl�me d��tudes sup�rieures dans un des programmes les plus convoit�s du pays. C�est en effet ce qu�a accompli Val�rie Khayat, une ravissante jeune artiste dont le sourire et le charisme presque contagieux sauraient faire fondre l��me la plus endurcie. Cette beaut� moiti�-libanaise moiti�-italienne vient r�cemment de lancer son tout premier livre intitul� The Road To Vesper. Cette �uvre po�tique est un recueil des pens�es les plus profondes de Val�rie.

Pour Val�rie, tout a d�but� par la po�sie depuis qu�elle est tr�s jeune.
� Au fil des ans, j�ai accumul� plusieurs journaux intimes et � force d��crire, j�ai d�velopp� un grand int�r�t � comprendre mes �motions et � les exprimer par �crit. Mes d�buts en composition musicale, sont d�ailleurs fond�s dans l��criture de ma po�sie, � explique-t-elle.

Val�rie a vite trouv� une audience. Apr�s avoir achet� sa premi�re guitare il y a 6 ans, elle s�est appris elle-m�me � la jouer et un an plus tard elle se trouvait sur une sc�ne � chanter ses propres compositions dans des soir�es �open mic� o� tous les yeux �taient riv�s sur elle. La jeune chanteuse cite plusieurs sources d�inspiration qui ont stimul� l�artiste en elle. Il y a tout d�abord son �clectique r�pertoire d�influences musicales compos�s de Charles Aznavour, Joni Mitchell, Lauryn Hill sans oublier Bjork et puis des po�tes comme Federico Garcia Lorca et Pablo Neruda entre autres.
En tant que fi�re italienne, elle se doit de mentionner ses nombreux voyages � Milan, qui ont d�ailleurs grandement contribu� � l�inspirer. Elle aime beaucoup la musique de Lucio Battisti et les �crits de Cesare Pavese. Val�rie reconna�t aussi l�inconditionnel amour de sa famille, plus particuli�rement sa complicit� avec sa grand-m�re, Evelina, qu�elle consid�re comme une grande confidente.

� Ma grand-m�re est une femme tr�s forte et elle a aussi cette �joie de vivre italienne�. Mes voyages en Italie et le temps pass� avec elle me gardent proche de mes origines et renforce ce lien avec ceux qui m�ont pr�c�d�s. Je crois vraiment qu�en tant qu�artiste, il est important de se conna�tre � fond pour pouvoir exprimer son message � un auditoire �.

Apr�s avoir �tudi�, entre autres, la photographie au Cegep John Abbott � travers le programme d�arts et lettres, Val�rie a continu� de prendre de magnifiques photos en noir et blanc durant ses voyages en Italie. A ses yeux, la photographie est un art qui permet � d�attribuer un visage humain aux diff�rentes r�alit�s qui existent�. Loin d��tre conformiste, cette jeune musicienne prend r�guli�rement part � la promotion de causes humanitaires. Elle attribue l��veil de son c�t� activiste � son exp�rience universitaire et au programme de Communication de Concordia, mais avant tout � son d�sir de comprendre la nature humaine.

� J�ai suivi plusieurs cours qui traitaient de globalisation et d�enjeux sociaux dans lesquels le but �tait d�analyser et de formuler nos propres opinions. �a m�a encourag�e � ne pas accepter les choses comme elles sont, surtout les injustices. Ce besoin de questionner compl�mente mon c�t� artistique et l�art devient aussi un moyen de sensibiliser, de refl�chir et surtout, d��voquer la compassion chez mon public. �

Contrairement � ce que nous projettent les m�dias, Val�rie insiste sur la cr�ativit� et le fait que � la musique authentique est un art qui n�est pas cr�� � partir d�une formule gagnante. �

� Il faut continuellement cultiver et enrichir sa perspective des choses. L�art devient une extension de la richesse int�rieure et de l��volution personnelle. Je crois que c�est ce qui est � la base de la long�vit� dans la carri�re de l�artiste et c�est ce que je vise, � explique Val�rie en attendant le lancement de son premier album. Une chose est certaine � nous n�avons pas fini d�entendre parler de cette jeune artiste au talent in�galable.


- PanoramItalia automne 2007

Fall 2007
article by Tim Mcsorley
http://www.siafu.ca/story/74

Resonating Messages

A native Montrealer from the West Island, Valerie Khayat has slowly but surely become a staple in Montreal’s spoken word and poetry scene, recently publishing her latest work, The Road to Vesper. On Oct. 13th, she is launching her official foray onto the Montreal music scene with the release of her album Resonance in blue. Siafu met up with 24-year-old Khayat at Café Shaika in NDG, where she has been carrying out an internship with the NDG community council.

SIAFU: Much of your music is very personal, and seems to come from a place of deep reflection, but others are very tangibly political. How do you find balance between speaking from personal experiences but in a way that is relevant to others?

KHAYAT: For the first part of your question, when I started off writing it was very, very personal. It was less about social commentary for me when I started off. When I moved to that, I think it reflected where I was in my life: moving towards being more active, reading up on social issues and understanding them. So I think everything reflects the space your in. But finding the balance – I do think that, for me, the personal is political. Your political interests are reflected in your actions every day. So somebody may have the possibility to volunteer, to go overseas and actually go to Third World countries and do their part that way, but I think that when you talk about social and political action, it’s all in your way of thinking. I think that it’s really all in your mind and the way that you perceive things. So if we move ourselves to understand a different reality, we can have a broader perspective on things. I think it’s all tied in; you have to understand yourself to understand and relate to other people. And for me it’s about compassion, because mostly for me it’s about evoking that feeling of compassion in people, seeing yourself in somebody else; that’s how I approach the political pieces write. I have many songs that have been inspired by specific documentaries. It’s from this tension or struggle inside of me, or, you know, not being able to really make sense of what I saw, so putting it into words helps.

S: Can you talk about one specific documentary that had this effect on you?

K: One song that’s on the album that’s called Jacob was taken from ‘Invisible Children,’ on child soldiers in Uganda. There’s this scene in the movie where there’s this little boy from Uganda named Jacob and he just started weeping. It was just this really haunting sound and I just got really troubled by it. It was just one of those songs that came out really, really fast; it was just feelings. I don’t think it is even thinking at that point, it’s just feeling it and letting it travel through you and it’s just coming out in words. Feeling what you see. There’s kind of no distinction, well not distinction, but you’re kind of feeling that other person’s pain, or just absorbing what you’re seeing.

S: Do you think artists have a specific role to play in bringing social issues to the forefont?

K: I do believe we have a big responsibility as artists, but I also realize that it’s not necessarily everybody that’s moved or drawn to speak about these issues. I think that a song about everyday things can be just as innovative or open people’s minds that way too. It depends. If I want to write about, comment about something my music’s pretty direct. Another song on the album is Stray Cats and I wrote it right after watching the MTV music awards and I was just like: this is what I feel and so it’s very direct. But I do believe that we have a responsibility just because… art is so powerful and art puts you in touch with your emotions and shows you sides of yourself that you may not see otherwise. I think it’s about putting questions out there and then you can’t control the way that people are going to receive it or what they’re going to think. But hopefully you can get people to think about their own lives, to think about their own existence and that they’re part of the bigger picture. Not everyone is going to tackle those issues, but I do believe we have a role, particularly because we live in a part of the world that is privileged and we have that privilege of getting up on a stage or booking a venue and putting on a show.

S: Do you think this awareness is present in the Montreal artistic community?

K: I think we’re lucky in Montreal that we have a scene that’s alternative, that there’s alternative art and underground culture, and that there is an activist link too. I think we’re lucky in that sense. Like any other hub, though, you have a whole spectrum of art. I do think it is reflected, but I think it also becomes that you know which artists do that kind of thing. I don’t think it’s a majority, but there are a lot of artists out there in Montreal that are very active and bringing up a lot of important social issues and worki - Siafu Magazine

CUTV (Concordia University Television)
February 2007
10 minute documentary report (Interview and live footage at Cafe Esperanza)
Aired everyday for a month at McGill and Concordia University

- CUTV

CUTV (Concordia University Television)
February 2007
10 minute documentary report (Interview and live footage at Cafe Esperanza)
Aired everyday for a month at McGill and Concordia University

- CUTV

CHOQ FM radio Website spotlight:

http://www.choq.fm/reportage-32.html


“Valérie Khayat nous offre ses émotions à travers ses cordes vocales et ses cordes de guitare. Courte entrevue, mais assez longue pour comprendre les raisons qui la pousse à composer ses chansons. Inspiré de la misère des pays pauvres, elle porte un message d’espoir et de délivrance!! Venez l’écouter en fermant les yeux, vous serez émerveillés.”
- CHOQ FM Radio

CHOQ FM radio Website spotlight:

http://www.choq.fm/reportage-32.html


“Valérie Khayat nous offre ses émotions à travers ses cordes vocales et ses cordes de guitare. Courte entrevue, mais assez longue pour comprendre les raisons qui la pousse à composer ses chansons. Inspiré de la misère des pays pauvres, elle porte un message d’espoir et de délivrance!! Venez l’écouter en fermant les yeux, vous serez émerveillés.”
- CHOQ FM Radio

Univers Folk (October and December 2006)
Que Font-ils? (February & September 2006)
- CHOQ FM Radio

August 31st, 20006
(please see picture section) - Journal Le Metro

Univers Folk (October and December 2006)
Que Font-ils? (February & September 2006)
- CHOQ FM Radio

Interview with Denise Agiman on January 28th, 20078
(begins 2 minutes in)

ftp://ftp.cfmb.ca/CFMB%20Audio%20Archives/2008-01-28_1406.wma - CFMB

Article by: Nadia Hausfather
print issue date: 11/20/07
Section: Arts

Online:
http://media.www.theconcordian.com/media/storage/paper290/news/2007/11/20/Arts/Artists.Against.Apartheid-3113723.shtml

"How can any man love but a Palestinian woman?" Ehab Lotayef asked the dimly-lit crowd at Sala Rossa. Although Lotayef was married to a Palestinian woman, the message of his poem was not romantic - it was political.
Alongside local and Juno-award-winning musicians, poets, documentary filmmakers and photographers who see their art as a voice for justice and the voiceless, Lotayef read his poem for the Artists Against Apartheid night on November 11th.
This event was held as Montreal's part of the Fifth International Week of Action Against the Apartheid Wall, taking place around the world from November 9-16. This week is marked to raise awareness about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the apartheid system enforced by the wall and the boycott campaign to take a stance against it.
"Art is the most influential factor in causing change in the long-term," said Lotayef, a writer, photographer and activist with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, because it "attacks the heart before it attacks the mind." But he prefers poetry, because in Arab culture, "poetry is really something that shapes people's ideas and thoughts." He hopes his poetry opens people's consciousness to what he calls an apartheid-like situation facing Palestinians today.
According to the United Nations, apartheid in South Africa was a system consisting of "numerous laws that allowed the ruling white minority in South Africa to segregate, exploit and terrorize the vast majority" and denied them their basic human rights.
Among other activists, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter uses the word 'apartheid' to describe the current "forced segregation in the West Bank and terrible oppression of the Palestinians" by the State of Israel, facing criticism that he was misusing the word..
Before she leapt into her own words and song with her smooth voice and red guitar, poet and folk singer-songwriter Valerie Khayat told the crowd that art should raise questions and give a voice to those who don't have one. She felt it was particularly important to support this event because the conflict in the Middle East has been "misrepresented by the mainstream media in a way that moves people to think it is hopeless or too complex. The information becomes numbers and statistics and we forget the human lives behind them."
"Art can take people beyond that," said Khayat, because it can "move people to listen just by its medium and emotional quality when they would perhaps not listen if the issue was presented in any other form." In that sense, "artists have a responsibility to address such issues especially when they are so urgent."
Khayat takes part in events like this because she sees it as a way to reclaim the potential of art to create change rather than just being commercialized or background entertainment as it too often is at events for humanitarian causes.
With an equally soothing and emancipatory slow reggae-laden beat, the local Kalmunity Collective dedicated their first song of the night to Haiti. It was also a song "for the freedom of any people or country who wants to be free," said poet and hip-hop artist MC Phenix, a member of the collective representing Montreal's Haitian diaspora.
Fellow Kalmunity Collective member and singer-songwriter Mohamed Mehdi added: "Apartheid is a child of occupation and every occupation is a brother of every other occupation, so we are brothers and sisters against every occupation."
Mehdi thinks the event was important because it linked culture and politics together and openly affirmed that what is going on in Israel and Palestine is apartheid.
The power of visual art was displayed by Nirah Shirazipour's two short films, to highlight the diversity of artistic and emotional experiences in Israel and Palestine.
The films are part of a documentary series Beyond Blue & Grey, created by Shirazipour and a collective called Eyes Infinite Films, to show not only how art can affect change and uplift those living under Israeli occupation, but also how the occupation affects their art, culture, creativity - and "the human spirit."
After 1948, many Palestinian artists were "using their creativity to immediately confront and challenge the displacement of their families," explained Shirazipour, who spent three years in Palestine on and off.
Now artists in the region are also focusing on how the occupation affects them on an emotional and psychological level.
While she was in Palestine, there was a "sense of exhaustion and frustration because artistic sensitivities are also under siege, not only the physical body," said Shirazipour.
One of the two documentaries she showed at the event was the 10-minute Jerusalem in Exile, which exposes Jerusalem-born artist Steve Sabella's online photography project.
Sabella invites P - The Concordian

Article by: Nadia Hausfather
print issue date: 11/20/07
Section: Arts

Online:
http://media.www.theconcordian.com/media/storage/paper290/news/2007/11/20/Arts/Artists.Against.Apartheid-3113723.shtml

"How can any man love but a Palestinian woman?" Ehab Lotayef asked the dimly-lit crowd at Sala Rossa. Although Lotayef was married to a Palestinian woman, the message of his poem was not romantic - it was political.
Alongside local and Juno-award-winning musicians, poets, documentary filmmakers and photographers who see their art as a voice for justice and the voiceless, Lotayef read his poem for the Artists Against Apartheid night on November 11th.
This event was held as Montreal's part of the Fifth International Week of Action Against the Apartheid Wall, taking place around the world from November 9-16. This week is marked to raise awareness about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the apartheid system enforced by the wall and the boycott campaign to take a stance against it.
"Art is the most influential factor in causing change in the long-term," said Lotayef, a writer, photographer and activist with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, because it "attacks the heart before it attacks the mind." But he prefers poetry, because in Arab culture, "poetry is really something that shapes people's ideas and thoughts." He hopes his poetry opens people's consciousness to what he calls an apartheid-like situation facing Palestinians today.
According to the United Nations, apartheid in South Africa was a system consisting of "numerous laws that allowed the ruling white minority in South Africa to segregate, exploit and terrorize the vast majority" and denied them their basic human rights.
Among other activists, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter uses the word 'apartheid' to describe the current "forced segregation in the West Bank and terrible oppression of the Palestinians" by the State of Israel, facing criticism that he was misusing the word..
Before she leapt into her own words and song with her smooth voice and red guitar, poet and folk singer-songwriter Valerie Khayat told the crowd that art should raise questions and give a voice to those who don't have one. She felt it was particularly important to support this event because the conflict in the Middle East has been "misrepresented by the mainstream media in a way that moves people to think it is hopeless or too complex. The information becomes numbers and statistics and we forget the human lives behind them."
"Art can take people beyond that," said Khayat, because it can "move people to listen just by its medium and emotional quality when they would perhaps not listen if the issue was presented in any other form." In that sense, "artists have a responsibility to address such issues especially when they are so urgent."
Khayat takes part in events like this because she sees it as a way to reclaim the potential of art to create change rather than just being commercialized or background entertainment as it too often is at events for humanitarian causes.
With an equally soothing and emancipatory slow reggae-laden beat, the local Kalmunity Collective dedicated their first song of the night to Haiti. It was also a song "for the freedom of any people or country who wants to be free," said poet and hip-hop artist MC Phenix, a member of the collective representing Montreal's Haitian diaspora.
Fellow Kalmunity Collective member and singer-songwriter Mohamed Mehdi added: "Apartheid is a child of occupation and every occupation is a brother of every other occupation, so we are brothers and sisters against every occupation."
Mehdi thinks the event was important because it linked culture and politics together and openly affirmed that what is going on in Israel and Palestine is apartheid.
The power of visual art was displayed by Nirah Shirazipour's two short films, to highlight the diversity of artistic and emotional experiences in Israel and Palestine.
The films are part of a documentary series Beyond Blue & Grey, created by Shirazipour and a collective called Eyes Infinite Films, to show not only how art can affect change and uplift those living under Israeli occupation, but also how the occupation affects their art, culture, creativity - and "the human spirit."
After 1948, many Palestinian artists were "using their creativity to immediately confront and challenge the displacement of their families," explained Shirazipour, who spent three years in Palestine on and off.
Now artists in the region are also focusing on how the occupation affects them on an emotional and psychological level.
While she was in Palestine, there was a "sense of exhaustion and frustration because artistic sensitivities are also under siege, not only the physical body," said Shirazipour.
One of the two documentaries she showed at the event was the 10-minute Jerusalem in Exile, which exposes Jerusalem-born artist Steve Sabella's online photography project.
Sabella invites P - The Concordian

by VINCENT TINGUELY

One of the newest voices on the Montreal scene this year is Valerie Khayat, who launched a book of poetry, The Road to Vesper in July, and a CD of songs, Resonance in Blue in October. “What triggered my decision to release the works was a trip to Milan, Italy late last year,” says Khayat. “I stayed at my grandmother’s for a little over a month, travelled, wrote, composed and recorded. My grandmother was an incredible source of support and wisdom for me, which made it possible for me to complete those works.”

Like Kyra Shaughnessy and NEeMA, Khayat channels her creativity into both words and music. “I actually started with poetry, my first love is writing,” Khayat explains. “I feel that as I learn from my experience of performing, the music can reach even more people, because the singing voice adds yet another emotional element. It’s a different kind of cathartic experience.”

Like many young Montreal performers, Khayat has found her community in cabaret-style events like the Artists Against Apartheid night sponsored by Tadamon, where she was on the bill with Ehab Lotayef and members of the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, and the launch for the Vanguard Coalition’s self-published anthology, Pièces de Résistance for Socio-Political Change, which featured spoken word by Stephen Thomas, Ian Ferrier, Jason Milan Ghikadis and Shaughnessy. “I find it really interesting to be part of something that’s bigger than my work,” says Khayat. “You can be inspired by the other artists on the bill with you, and bring in something you can share. That’s really important to me, that art can be used to its full potential.”

Anderson also feels spoken word has much to offer a society in flux. “If we are going to establish new ways to live,” he says, “part of the aesthetic will be created on the street and in events where spoken word performers have brought their work to their public.”


Full Article at:
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/122007/yir8.html - Montreal Mirror

by VINCENT TINGUELY

One of the newest voices on the Montreal scene this year is Valerie Khayat, who launched a book of poetry, The Road to Vesper in July, and a CD of songs, Resonance in Blue in October. “What triggered my decision to release the works was a trip to Milan, Italy late last year,” says Khayat. “I stayed at my grandmother’s for a little over a month, travelled, wrote, composed and recorded. My grandmother was an incredible source of support and wisdom for me, which made it possible for me to complete those works.”

Like Kyra Shaughnessy and NEeMA, Khayat channels her creativity into both words and music. “I actually started with poetry, my first love is writing,” Khayat explains. “I feel that as I learn from my experience of performing, the music can reach even more people, because the singing voice adds yet another emotional element. It’s a different kind of cathartic experience.”

Like many young Montreal performers, Khayat has found her community in cabaret-style events like the Artists Against Apartheid night sponsored by Tadamon, where she was on the bill with Ehab Lotayef and members of the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, and the launch for the Vanguard Coalition’s self-published anthology, Pièces de Résistance for Socio-Political Change, which featured spoken word by Stephen Thomas, Ian Ferrier, Jason Milan Ghikadis and Shaughnessy. “I find it really interesting to be part of something that’s bigger than my work,” says Khayat. “You can be inspired by the other artists on the bill with you, and bring in something you can share. That’s really important to me, that art can be used to its full potential.”

Anderson also feels spoken word has much to offer a society in flux. “If we are going to establish new ways to live,” he says, “part of the aesthetic will be created on the street and in events where spoken word performers have brought their work to their public.”


Full Article at:
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/122007/yir8.html - Montreal Mirror