Émilie Monnet

At the intersection of theatre, performance and media arts, Émilie Monnet’s work is most often presented in the form of interdisciplinary theatre or performative installations. Her artistic approach favours collaborative and multilingual creative processes, and explores themes of memory, history, transformation and love. 

In 2011, she founded Onishka Productions to build bridges and nurture relationships between Indigenous artists and communities throughout the world, notably via the Indigenous Contemporary Scene platform, which has presented events in Montréal at Musée de l’art contemporain, Festival TransAmériques, and Offta; and in Edinburgh at both the International Festival and Fringe. Her work Marguerite: le feu received acclaim at the Festival d’Avignon in 2023, and was presented at the National Arts Centre in June 2025. Nigamon/​Tunai, the performance installation co-created with Indigenous artist Waira Nina from the Colombian Amazon, premiered at Festival TransAmériques in May 2025 and toured Colombia and Brazil.

She also often collaborates with other Indigenous artists to bring their visions to the stage. Her latest credits include directing Uvattini, the multimedia performance of Elisapie’s latest album, as well as directing a theatrical adaptation of Michel Jean’s bestselling novel Kukum.Émilie’s mother is Algonquin Anishinaabe and her father is French. She currently lives in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyaang / Montréal.

Presented in partnership with the University Musical Society.

This project was made possible by a grant from the Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan.

Series presenting partners: Detroit PBS, ALL ARTS, and PBS Books. Media partner: Michigan Public.