This year the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership is presenting the 10^th annual edition of its winter event, Luminothérapie. The anniversary is being marked with an astonishing interactive installation on the theme of celebration: POP! by Montreal creative studio Gentilhomme.

10 YEARS OF BOLD INTERACTIVE WORKS FOR PUBLIC SPACE

Luminothérapie is Quebec’s largest competition for temporary public installations. For the last 10 years, it has presented captivating and original interactive experiences in the Quartier des Spectacles, with a large-scale installation in Place des Festivals accompanied by an architectural projection. It has become an essential winter event for visitors to Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles. 

Luminothérapie is aimed at stimulating creativity in the disciplines of urban art installations and digital art. Over the years, it has been a springboard for numerous Canadian artists. The experience is renewed each year with remarkable boldness. The creative use of light makes the experiences immersive, participatory or meditative, as part of a larger goal of encouraging the public to embrace the public spaces of the Quartier des Spectacles.

In 2016, the Partnership won a certificate of merit at the National Urban Design Awards presented by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The creators of the Luminothérapie works have won a dozen awards in the disciplines of lighting, architecture and digital creation.

SINCE 2010, LUMINOTHÉRAPIE HAS BEEN: 

o 15 artworks, installations and projections created; 

o More than 150 creators, artists and cultural enterprises;

o 306 proposals submitted to the annual competition.

THE LUMINOTHÉRAPIE INSTALLATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
Several cultural districts around the world have shown interest in the Quartier’s participatory and interactive works created for public space. The installations, made in Montreal for Luminothérapie, have a universal and unifying character, and now tour to the delight of crowds of people around the world. Since 2016, six winners of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership’s winter competition have been exhibited 77 times in more than 35 cities, including New York, London, Brussels, Jerusalem, Lugano, Toronto, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

UNTIL JANUARY 26, 2020, COME PARTY WITH THE POP! CREATURES 

Five enigmatic monoliths conceal fantastical creatures who love to party. With the public’s encouragement, calls and chanting, each monolith gradually lights up until it opens, freeing a creature who puts on a show. Just to the north, an architectural projection on UQAM’s Pavillon Président-Kennedy features all five POP! creatures.

Although funny and irreverent – Gentilhomme signatures – the installation’s simple, playful approach has subtle depth, with several tributes to popular culture and winter folklore. Over the centuries, people have found comfort, hope and joy in gathering and partying to get through the cold, dark winter.

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LIST OF WORKS AND CREATORS

2019-20 – 10^th edition 
POP!: Gentilhomme 

2018-19 – 9^th edition 

domino effect: Ingrid Ingrid 

2017-18 –  8^th edition

Impulse:  Lateral Office and CS Design     

2016-17– 7^th edition

Loop:  Olivier Girouard, Jonathan Villeneuve and Ottoblix   

2015-16– 6^th edition

Impulse:  Lateral Office and CS Design

Projections: Mathieu Le Sourd and Daniel Iregui

2014-15 – 5^th edition 

Prismatica: RAW design, in collaboration with ATOMIC3 

2013-14 – 4^th edition

Entre les rangs: KANVA Architecture     

Trouve Bob: Champagne Club Sandwich

2012-13 – 3^rd edition

Iceberg: ATOMIC3 and Appareil Architecture      

Le jour des 8 soleils: Pascal Grandmaison, in collaboration with Antoine Bédard, Marie-Claire Blais, Serge Murphy, Simon Guilbault and Pierre Lapointe

2011-12 -2^nd edition

Nuage de givre:  Erick Villeneuve and Jean Beaudoin, Multimédia Novalux   

Forêt Forêt: Amandine Guillard, Anik Poirier, Albane Guy, TagTeam Studio, Impact Productions
Éclats de verre:  ATOMIC3, Éric Gautron, Michel Granger

2010-11 – 1^st edition

Sphères polaires: Lucion 

Champ de pixel: Erick Villeneuve, Jean Beaudoin      

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ABOUT THE QUARTIER AND THE QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES PARTNERSHIP

The Quartier des Spectacles is Montreal’s cultural heart, boasting North America’s greatest concentration and variety of cultural venues. The district is the year-round host to countless festivals and events, many of which include free outdoor shows and activities. The Quartier hosts innovative urban installations featuring cutting-edge lighting design, immersive environments and interactive digital spaces. Year round, the Quartier presents artistic video projections on building façades. The Quartier des Spectacles is also a showcase for new multimedia technology, making Montreal a global leader in the urban exhibition of digital content.

The Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, founded in 2003, is a non-profit organization with more than 80 members active in the district. It is responsible for animating the Quartier des Spectacles by programming cultural activities, managing and animating public spaces, providing distinctive illumination and promoting the Quartier as a must-visit cultural destination. The Partnership is supported by the Ville de Montréal.