Montreal museums for every taste
Exhibitions this season are curated for cultural diversity
While virtual tours and hybrid experiences were a great way to beat confinement blues early in the pandemic, Montreal museums and galleries have been attracting visitors looking for safely distanced, enriching entertainment all summer.
So for those who’ve seen it all, the fall and winter arts calendar is bursting with new exhibitions to suit every taste and touching on myriad themes and forms of visual expression. Here are some highlights to check out this season.
The main attraction at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts this season is all about vocal expression. How Long Does it Take for One Voice to Reach Another? runs until Feb. 13, featuring installations by Janet Cardiff and Rafael Lozanohemmer and pieces by Rebecca Belmore, Geneviève Cadieux and many more, alongside works by Rodin and Rembrandt from the museum’s Old Masters collection.
“(The exhibition) compellingly and sensitively explores the theme of the human voice, in actuality and metaphorically,” according to MMFA director Stephane Aquin.
“Following all these months of silence and lockdown, the works selected for it answer that eternal — but also extremely timely — question in a cathartic and celebratory way. The moment has arrived for speaking and listening.”
Portrait photo enthusiasts will want to check out The World of Yousuf Karsh, the MMFA’S display of over 100 of the famed Armenian-canadian photographer’s works, on display until Jan. 30. Silver gelatin prints of political notables such as Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and many more will be featured alongside Karsh’s depictions of influential 20th century figures from the worlds of the arts, science and spirituality.
On the lighter side of things, the Pointe-à-callière museum presents It’s Circus Time! Quebec and Montreal are home to one of the most vibrant circus performance communities in the world, with Cirque du Soleil being one of the province’s most well known cultural exports, globally.
The one-of-a-kind exhibit explores the history of the circus arts from their early European roots to the present with over 350 artifacts collected in an immersive experience of colour, costume, light, sound and laughter, from Oct. 13 to March 6.
Back on a more serious note at Pointe-à-callière, an outdoor exhibit, A Parliament Beneath Your Feet, runs until late October, displaying finds from one of the largest archeological digs ever conducted in Canada along Place D’youville West, between Mcgill and Saint-pierre.
In the mid-19th century, those grounds housed Montreal’s first covered marketplace, Saint Anne’s Market, and subsequently became home to the Parliament of the United Province of Canada — the legislative chambers of Upper and Lower Canada — which burned in the riots of 1849.
“These two exhibitions on widely differing themes allow us to highlight Montréal’s key role in the development of both Québec and Canada. They remind us that the city has historically been a place of exchange and influence, as well as a hub of artistic effervescence that has furthered its renown on an international level,” said Anne Élisabeth Thibault, executive director of Pointe-à-callière.
For tastes veering toward the speculative, The Phi Foundation for Contemporary Arts this week premièred the works of its firstever visual arts residents this season with ...and room in the bag of stars, running until Jan. 9.
Five Montreal-based multidisciplinary talents, under the curation of PHI’S Daniel Fiset, present creations inspired in spirit by a short work essay by sci-fi giant Ursula K. Leguin, The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, in which she posited that the first tool created by Homo sapiens was not a spear, but a food storage receptacle.
“What we look for is cuttingedge artists. And I don’t want to say that established artists don’t have their place — au contraire!” explained Phi Foundation spokesperson Myriam Achard.
“But we want to amplify the work of (newer) artists. They have access to our team and our production facilities. We had this program in mind for a long time, and I think that the pandemic really accelerated things, because artists need help. The last year and half has been really tough for them, and we want to show the community that we’re here.”
The Phi Foundation and MMFA are also among more than a dozen cultural spaces partnered this season for the 17th MOMENTA biennale de l’image, running until Oct. 24.
The biannual event promotes accessibility to and education about the contemporary arts. Works from 51 artists hailing from 24 different countries come together under this year’s theme, Sensing Nature. A garden of plants significant to Indigenous communities and an augmented reality tour are among the exhibition’s many attractions. Visit the MOMENTA website for specifics.