This fall’s exhibitions in the Quartier des Spectacles

ECAL ATLAS TYPOGRAPHIQUE 

From September 10 to October 4, ECAL ATLAS TYPOGRAPHIQUE is a travelling show that immerses visitors in the world of typography. It presents the characters and fonts around us and the ways they subtly testify to different eras, cultures and worldviews. The exhibition, which reveals how our perspectives are shaped by the visual character of the messages we read, is enriched by a section about the art of typography in Quebec and an immersive installation comprising multilingual projections.  

An Assembly for the Cosmos 

In the current Anthropocene era, a starry sky is made up not only of natural celestial bodies, but of human-made constellations of satellites. This show, running from September 4 to October 17, is presented in three venues: Galerie de l’UQAM, MICA | Montreal Institute of Contemporary Art and Adélard in the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church in Frelighsburg. Featuring the work of several artists, An Assembly for the Cosmos explores the cosmos as opposed to the conquest of space. Through works drawing on symbolically rich elements – meteorites, stones, sealskin and various media including sculpture, beadwork, video and audio – artists Macela Armas & Gilberto Esparza, Tabita Rezaire, Skawennati, Suzanne Treister & Patricia Domínguez and Jesse Tungilik invite us to ponder our relationship with the universe. 

Find out more

Gabrielle Turbide. Dystrophe 

Also at the Galerie de l’UQAM, from September 4 to October 17, is an installation by Gabrielle Turbide, a member of the graduating class in UQAM’s visual and media arts program. Gabrielle Turbide. Dystrophe is presented as a series of modular devices housing hybrid ecosystems where plants, algae and microorganisms coexist with technological elements. Inspired by the eutrophication of saltwater environments – a process that causes the proliferation of algae, phytoplankton and photosynthetic bacteria – the installation highlights the fragile dynamics of delicate environments, where disappearance, transformation and adaptation are all integral parts of a single ecological cycle.

Valentin Noujaïm – Out of Time 

From September 18 to November 28, the Vox gallery presents Out of Time, a trilogy of films by Valentin Noujaïm. Inspired by La Défense – the Paris business district intended to embody the economic and architectural modernity of the City of Light – the Franco-Lebanese filmmaker creates a dark portrait through three films: Pacific Club (2023), To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion (2024) and Demons to Diamonds (2025). Shown in spaces evoking ruin and chaos, the three films – straddling the boundaries of fiction, documentary and genre film – evoke a complex world on the brink of collapse.  

Find out more

Carl Trahan – What Is a Shadow That It Must Be Captured? 

Carl Trahan is a multidisciplinary artist whose photography, touching on the unspeakable, evokes the difficulty of grasping the essence of things. Carl Trahan – What Is a Shadow That It Must Be Captured?, presented from September 18 to November 28, explores photography and its paradox: the desire to capture reality while also reproducing it. Comprising quotations, photographs, castings and a video, this show is an original reflection on the kinds of modern art that inspire us not only to want to capture shadows but to disappear along with them. 

Benefit exhibition: Collection CIRCA 2026 édition TOPOS/ΤΟΠΟΣ 

Presented until October 24 at the CIRCA gallery, the benefit exhibition Collection CIRCA 2026 édition TOPOS/ΤΟΠΟΣ takes a fresh look at land and how we occupy it. Featuring works by more than 50 artists, from filmmaker Jennifer Alleyn to multidisciplinary artist Alice Zerini-Le Reste, the event pays tribute to past and future migrations and human structures, while presenting multiple perspectives on our relationship with physical places and their potential and evolution.  

9 rue du Loup-Pendu by Mia Chalbos 

Until October 24, Artprim presents the first solo show by French-Canadian multidisciplinary artist Mia Chalbos. Depicting a house surrounded by a construction site, the installation, 9 rue du Loup-Pendu, represents a place where the artist’s mother lived before Chalbos was born. Influenced by history, construction, science fiction and theatrical production, the work invites us to think about the concept of home as a relic of the past and the outline of our personal and family future.  

Ouvrir des brèches by Hélène Goulet 

From September 17 to October 24, the Gesù presents Ouvrir des brèches, an exhibition of paintings by Hélène Goulet. With primary colours, solid tints, patterns, lines and shapes that gather and confront each other, the artist explores tensions in human relations. Goulet’s work evokes encounters and connections, as well as the power structures that influence our relationships with each other and our surroundings. Through these themes we discover passages – potential outlets for the tensions that consume us. 

The 1976 Olympic Games: Stories and Souvenirs 

A small, fun show that allows visitors to (re)live the highlights of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games from different points of view. Running until November 22, The 1976 Olympic Games: Stories and Souvenirs lets you take the role of an athlete, a staff member and an ordinary visitor purchasing an Amik button in the souvenir shop! It all adds up to a series of original ways to commemorate a major event in the city’s history, a half-century ago.   

Find out more

The 1976 Olympic Games: Stories and Souvenirs 

A small, fun show that allows visitors to (re)live the highlights of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games from different points of view. Running until November 22, The 1976 Olympic Games: Stories and Souvenirs lets you take the role of an athlete, a staff member and an ordinary visitor purchasing an Amik button in the souvenir shop! It all adds up to a series of original ways to commemorate a major event in the city’s history, a half-century ago.