This text is part of the special Museums notebook
This fall, Quebec City’s museums are offering an eclectic range of exhibitions: music, games, beer, body, meditation are some of the varied themes that visitors are invited to examine as the season approaches. cold. From must-sees to hidden treasures, a short guided tour of new exhibitions and those to see before they give way to others.
National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec: tribute to meaning and the next generation
“ See the night is the flagship event this fall at the MNBAQ and is first and foremost an experience for the senses,” explains Maude Lévesque, curator of the exhibition which will be presented on November 2. The visitor enters a black box where “the lighting accentuates the play of light in the works, which range from ancient art to current art”. It is impossible to know which artists are exhibited. “We cultivate mystery so that the visitor arrives without expectations, fully present to what is inside them,” adds the curator. Around sixty works from the MNBAQ collection, some presented for the first time, are associated with 15 objects borrowed from the Musée de la civilization de Québec. “The whole thing, poetic, is conducive to arousing emotions,” explains Mme Lévesque. So, no information cards or usual guided tour. “Visitors will find information about the works at the end. As for the guides, they have received training in philosophical visits to encourage visitors’ introspection,” specifies the museologist.
Another exhibition to see between October 26 and January 7 at the MNBAQ: the one presented as part of the MNBAQ Contemporary Art Prize, which this year highlights for the first time the work of five artists, all female, instead of ‘only one. Sculptures, installations, videos, photographs, the works offer a reflection on migration, identity, memory, nature, mourning and resilience. Another new feature: the public will be able to vote for their Favorite between the works of Maria Ezcurra, Anahita Norouzi, Celia Perrin Sidarous, Eve Tagny and Sara A. This will be revealed in December, at the same time as the big winner of the prize, chosen by a jury of experts. This plural exhibition promises an experience that is both poetic and political.
Museum of Civilization: climate emergency and hip-hop culture
“As a society museum, the MCQ could not miss a subject as critical as the climate crisis,” says Anne-Sophie Desmeules, spokesperson for the Museum of Civilization (MCQ). Until January 7, the exhibition For tomorrow proposes an adaptation of Our Time on Earth, presented at the Barbican, a prestigious museum in London. Twelve of the Barbican’s works are brought together at the MCQ and address environmental issues with a non-moralizing approach. “Hope is at the heart of this project, which also exhibits a work by Skawennati, an indigenous artist, created for this exhibition. » Congruent, everything is part of an eco-responsible environment. “The walls, for example, are made of recovered materials and mycelium, and the works from the Barbican arrived by boat,” underlines Mme Desmeules. A parallel corpus offers solutions from Quebec entrepreneurs and researchers to reduce the environmental footprint, such as mittens insulated with milkweed, or even tiles made from recycled materials. “Finally, at the end of the tour, the visitor, by answering questions, will have an idea of its green profile,” explains the spokesperson. What we want is to mobilize the wonder, curiosity and sensitivity of the visitor to lead them to reconnect with the beauty of the world and make them want to take care of it. »
Always in line with its mission as a society museum, the MCQ presents from November 10 On words. The sound of queb rap. Developed with Webster, hip-hop artist and speaker, this project traces the arrival of hip-hop in Quebec and its impacts on society. “Hip-hop is a rich culture, synonymous with diversity,” says M.me Desmeules. It brings together the concerns of Quebecers of yesterday and today, and has generated major changes in society. » Using audiovisual projections and testimonies in particular, the exhibition explores the demands and different facets of this culture: music, dance, graffiti. “It’s a sound immersion since the visitor wears a headset that broadcasts music or narration,” explains M.me Desmeules, who concludes by inviting the public to the inauguration evening with performances on November 24. Something to warm up cold autumn days.
The Isle of Palaces, the Ursulines Monastery Museum and the Sainte-Foy Historical Interpretation Center: for adults and children
Music and dance are also found in 100 years of nightlife. Bar stories, presented at L’île des Palais, a little-known historical and archaeological treasure of the capital. Paying tribute to the people who have worked in the bar scene since Prohibition, this immersive journey through vaults over 300 years old brings together soundtracks, virtual interfaces, archive images and period decor elements to bring the bars back to life. bars, taverns and nightclubs. Testimonies on interactive screens from bartenders and waitresses of the time provide sometimes unusual anecdotes about the capital’s nightlife. To end their experience, the visitor can participate in the georally On the beer road which ends with a tasting.
Children also have the right to have fun with It’s by playing that you become great, on the program of the Museum of the cultural center of the Ursuline monastery. “Based on a schoolyard atmosphere, the exhibition highlights 150 games and toys from the Ursuline collection, some dating from the 18th century.e century,” explains Yohan Bonnette, responsible for cultural programming. Buttons to activate, keys to turn, tunnel to cross, “all of this underlines the central place given to games in the teaching provided by the Ursulines and allows visitors to experience some of them,” adds Mr. Bonnette. After the game, we can then meditate by walking in the Ursulines chapel, which has just won the prize of excellence in the “restoration” category awarded by the Religious Heritage Council of Quebec.
To stay in the world of childhood, it is also possible to visit the Sainte-Foy Historical Interpretation Center, where, until December 10, The imaginations of youth honors contemporary Quebec children’s comics.
Villa Bagatelle and the Augustines Monastery Museum: reflections on body and mind
Villa Bagatelle welcomes until December 17 Materials. Body, transformations and revelations presented by the Maison des métiers d’art de Québec (MMAQ). Four emerging artists are breaking preconceived ideas about artistic professions by questioning their relationship to the body. “Using raw material and digital technology, these artists reflect on the intimate body and the social body to highlight the way in which they evolve with the material, less and less material,” explains Emile Beauchemin, curator of the exhibition. Mastering the arts of craftsmanship, the exhibited artists use them to reflect on contemporary art and explore “their identity relationship with our changing world,” specifies Mr. Beauchemin. An exhibition which aims to make a profound and intellectual approach accessible to as many people as possible.
To finish this museum tour, a stop at the Augustine Monastery Museum, which offers Collect, Télé-Québec’s Favorite Prize of the 2023 jury, is ideal. “From the start, a question greets the visitor: what place does action take in your lives? » explains Andréanne Cantin, head of the Museum. Then, in the spirit of museotherapy, according to which handling artifacts induces sensations of well-being, “the visitor manipulates the cloister key which allowed the Augustines to open the door which separated the world from action, “hospital, and that of contemplation, the monastery”, adds Mme Canteen. Then, the visitor is invited to practice slow and conscious observation of a few drawings. Visiting a garden and participating in a collective work traces the path that leads to a final question: what place does contemplation take in your lives? A proposal for rejuvenation, this exhibition offers the opportunity to experience how slowing down allows us to be better present in the action.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.