This text is part of the special booklet The summer of museums
Quebec residents and visitors will have several exhibitions to enjoy this summer. While the Musée de la civilization will examine the issues of climate change and gender, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) will present the first exhibition presented on Canadian soil of the work of British designer Alexander McQueen.
For tomorrow
As of June 14, the Musée de la civilization will present For tomorrow, a plea for action on climate change. Designed by the Barbican Center in London, the exhibition has been adapted by the Musée de la civilization to reflect Quebec’s challenges related to climate change.
While humans have long considered themselves to be above other species, positioning themselves in an illusory way at a distance from nature, For Tomorrow leads visitors to look towards a brighter future. The exhibition explores design, art, technology and culture to imagine an environment where humanity and the planet come together.
The route includes 12 contemporary works designed for the exhibition presented at the Barbican Center in London in 2022, a new indigenous work created for the presentation of Quebec and a hundred objects linked to local solutions. For tomorrow is built around five major themes such as the protection of biodiversity, agriculture, consumption, construction and urban planning as well as energy, mobility and transport.
Throughout the course, visitors can accumulate points according to their answers and actions, which will determine, at the very end, their “green portrait”. The objective is to bring each person to know their capacity to change things and to invite them to really take action.
One of a kind
The Musée de la civilization will also highlight the issue of gender this summer. Increasingly present and visible, it generates social transformations that have effects on living together. One of a kind will allow the public to discover the plurality of experiences related to genres as well as their transformations over time and according to cultures, in Quebec as elsewhere.
More specifically, the exhibition will address gender identities and expressions, the diversity of sexual bodies in the animal world and in humans, gendered social norms and the discriminations associated with them, historical and current social protest movements. , as well as current trans and queer cultures.
The exhibition, presented from May 18, 2023 to April 14, 2024, is composed of a series of objects and audiovisual testimonies as well as two artistic installations.
The Musée de la civilization has chosen a sensitive and respectful approach so that the diversity of audiences can explore the exhibition at their own pace while encouraging discovery and reflection. The exhibition also aims to provide a safe space for people of gender diversity where they will feel included, heard and recognized.
Alexander McQueen. Art meets fashion
The exhibition will offer a reflection on the creative process of the man who has been nicknamed the “terrible child” of English fashion, who took his own life a few days after the death of his mother in 2010, at the age of 40. Presented from June 15 to September 10, it will honor the artistic and interdisciplinary approach of the designer and artist, which is rooted in autobiographical and encyclopedic references (fuelled, among other things, by history, natural sciences and popular culture), and will emphasize the universality of themes, such as life, death, nature, colonialism, mythology or even the human condition.
The MNBAQ will exhibit for the occasion, at the Pierre Lassonde pavilion, sets designed by the creator which will be related to works of art, in particular by the great masters of art history — Dürer, Goya and Picasso — and artists from Quebec — François Baillairgé, Patrick Bernatchez, Clarence Gagnon, Holly King, Marcel Saint-Pierre and Claire Savoie — thus promoting a diversity of eras, cultures and techniques.
“The exhibit first premiered at LACMA in Los Angeles in the summer of 2022, and was circulated for viewing at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, before ending its run here, in Quebec, at the MNBAQ, says Maude Lévesque, curator of the exhibition. Each presentation is a different exhibition, both in terms of content and scenography. »
Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ), the exhibition Alexander McQueen. Art meets fashion brings together nearly 200 items from the LACMA collection, including 69 designer ensembles, 50 works of art including historical costumes, 17 headpieces and shoes designed by Los Angeles artist Michael Schmidt, and 32 works from the MNBAQ.
“We have selected these works from our collection to enrich the content of the exhibition and to highlight the universal themes explored by McQueen, explains Maude Lévesque. The scenography will allow you to experience four zones with distinct atmospheres. We imagined six thematic paintings that highlight the creative and provocative passion of this legendary couturier. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.