Creative vacation at the museum

This text is part of the special school break notebook

Spring break is the perfect opportunity to spend beautiful, inspiring moments at the museum with your family. A quick overview of the exhibitions and activities not to be missed to unleash your children’s creativity and awaken their sense of wonder.

MMFA: pop art to mother nature

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is sure to impress with Pop life! This sparkling exhibition brings together the works of some of the most brilliant Canadian artists associated with pop art, from Pierre Ayot to Joyce Wieland, including Edmund Alleyn. A great opportunity to dive back into a movement that drew heavily on popular culture, with the colorful and daring creations of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Tom Wesselmann.

For budding artists, the MMFA also offers a creative workshop, Body-naturewhere young and old can make clay sculptures inspired by artists like Henry Moore, whose human figures were largely modeled on nature (free access from March 2 to 10, at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., except Monday).

McCord Stewart Museum: exploring the past

The century-old institution celebrating life in Montreal yesterday and today opens up to young people with a host of fun activities. From March 4, the exhibition Montreal in the making — Duncan, painter of the 19^e century is to be explored through a guided tour specially designed for families, and an animated circuit dotted with objects to handle. By having fun with old-fashioned toys or learning to tie an arrow belt, we discover what winter was like in Montreal, more than 150 years ago.

Another participatory experience not to be missed, Natu-natshishkueu. The adventure of meeting offers families the opportunity to get to know the indigenous nations of Quebec through the museum’s Indigenous Cultures collection and numerous testimonies (free for those aged 17 and under, from March 3 to 10).

MAC: image fragments

Unveiled last September in the public space of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal (MAC), the mural Fluid fossils by multidisciplinary artist Anna Binta Diallo invites us to reflect on the transmission to future generations of the fragile heritage that has been bequeathed to us. His human silhouettes composed of collages of motifs taken from nature compose a colorful and lively fresco. In connection with this work as strong as it is inspiring, the MAC invites families to create characters in the workshop from an amalgamation of fragments of images from the present and the past (free for those under 18, from 5 to March 8, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.).

MNBAQ: stars in your eyes

While waiting for the total eclipse on April 8, the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec (MNBAQ) is taking advantage of the school break to allow young people to soak up the immensity of the starry sky. Workshops Land in sight And Space conquest offer to explore distant lands and galaxies by designing binoculars with mirror effects and a rocket ready to take off (March 4 to 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Also take the opportunity to discover the exhibition with your family See the night, and embark on a nighttime stroll appealing to all the senses and the imagination (from March 4 to 8, from 10:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.). And take part in the modeling workshop to create a fantastic creature in the colors of nightlife (Sundays, at 1:15 p.m. and 3 p.m.). All of these activities are free for children 12 and under.

Space for life: a biodiversity of activities

The largest natural sciences complex in Canada opens the doors of its museums to enjoy a wide variety of recreational and educational experiences. The Biodôme team awaits you for an interactive journey through ecosystems here and elsewhere, to learn how to catalog fauna and flora (from March 2 to 17). The Biosphere is organizing a workshop inspired by the photo exhibition Suspending, moving to come and move to the rhythm of starlings like icebergs as part of the activity Family Saturday (March 2 at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.).

At the Planetarium, a rather unusual show awaits you to prepare you for the next solar eclipse with the film In search of lost sleep. Its heroine is a funny insomniac chicken living on the Moon who undertakes a spatiotemporal journey to Earth in search of the perfect eclipse which will finally allow her to get a good night’s sleep (see calendar.spaceforlife.ca to view timetables).

Musée de la civilization de Québec: rap in your skin

Spring break promises to be busy in the Old Capital. Inspired by the exhibition On words. The sound of queb rap, several activities offer to introduce young people to the pillars of hip-hop culture, from music to graffiti and dance. On the program: writing and dance classes with Studio Party Time, or workshops to learn how to compose a beat and create your own album cover with a graffiti background (March 2 to 10, continuously from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).

MBAS: following in the footsteps of the greatest

For this very special week, the Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts (MBAS) stands out with a very rich program that invites our little ones to follow in the footsteps of renowned artists. Every day offers its share of artistic explorations. A workshop offers 9-12 year olds the opportunity to familiarize themselves with faux stained glass painting, drawing inspiration from Alfred Manessier (March 4, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.). For their part, 4-7 year olds have the opportunity to discover the careers of Rosa Bonheur and Jean-Michel Basquiat, to follow creative workshops following the approach of these two great avant-garde figures (March 5 and 6, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.).

This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.

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