Altaire Productions & Publications

Altaire Productions & Publications first opened in the 70's as Studio Altaire in Toronto’s Kensington Market as a public art studio for the works of artist Terrence Tasker.

In 1981, Tasker and Marie Slaight moved to Montreal in the late 70's and opened Studio Altaire on the infamous St. Lawrence Blvd in 1981. They occupied 12,000 sq. feet of loft and office space above the French café-theatre La Licorne. Comprised of a 100-seat theatre and a separate art gallery as well as workshop and recording space, Studio Altaire featured theatre companies such as The Painted Bird Ensemble and St. Antoine Street Theatre companies, late night jazz and punk concerts, poetry readings, acting workshops, art exhibits and more.

In 2008, after years spent in New Orleans, Buenos Aires and Montreal, Marie Slaight began Altaire Productions & Publications in Sydney, Australia as an arts production company for independent artists. Altaire has been involved in and co-produced such films as Bury The Hatchet (US), Happy Baby (US), Kindred (Australia) and Raymond Carver's Whoever Was Using This Bed (Australia) among others. The first book publication from Altaire was The Antigone Poems, a book of poetry and art created by the original Altaire founders while living in Toronto and Montreal in the 1970s. It was published, to critical acclaim, as a tribute to Tasker, who died in 1992 at age 45. Altaire is publishing 2 titles and is in preproduction for a documentary on jelly Roll Morton.