KM³: A New Public Art Event in Montreal for Fall 2017

Montreal, October 24, 2016 – The Quartier des Spectacles Partnership is proud to announce the first edition of a major public art event in the heart of downtown. From August 30 to October 15, 2017, as part of Montreal’s 375^th anniversary celebrations, 20 bold and original temporary works and installations, and permanent public artworks will give Montrealers and visitors an exceptional urban experience called KM³.

The largest outdoor temporary public art event ever presented in Montreal, KM³ will be held throughout the Quartier des Spectacles, with the core of the event taking place on Sainte-Catherine Street. The initiative, spearheaded by the Partnership, will feature Quebec-based creators working in the visual arts, urban art, digital art, design and architecture. It will be seen on building walls, in public spaces and several underused sites.

KM³ is focused on inspiring a sense of surprise and wonderment, putting viewers in the mood for discovery, as if they were exploring the city for the first time. Comprising works running the gamut from playful and interactive to the meditative, at scales from the intimate to the monumental, the works will be equally fascinating day or night. The event will have a strong participatory dimension, encouraging the public to see and experience urban space in novel ways.

“KM³ is an exciting major project for the Partnership, helping us deliver on our promise to Montrealers and visitors to display art in the heart of downtown. With this unique event, the Partnership seeks to bring art and audiences together, and to inspire people with innovative, high-quality art, while offering local artists an exceptional platform for expressing their talent, including works that make use of the Quartier’s digital infrastructure,” said Jacques Primeau, chair of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership’s board of directors.

Montreal mayor Denis Coderre is excited “to see the Partnership once again making the most of culture as a force of attraction,” and reiterated the municipal government’s commitment to supporting such initiatives. “Distinctive events like KM³ help shape a new image for our city’s downtown, increasing its attractiveness and helping Montreal position itself as one of the great cities of our time,” he added.

The majority of the works and installations will be original creations by Quebec artists. Among the artists invited to participate will be several known for their previous public art, along with others who will be unveiling their first public artwork. At the conclusion of this inaugural edition of KM³, the works will become part of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership’s permanent collection, available for future display in Montreal or elsewhere. A current example is the seesaws of Impulsion, an art installation presented last winter in the Place des Festivals for Luminothérapie, now installed temporarily in London, England.

The Partnership plans to make KM³ a biennial event serving as a showcase for Quebec-made temporary public art in Montreal, helping local artists advance public art for years to come.

KM³: KEY PARTNERS FOR A MAJOR AUTUMN EVENT

A $2.5 million financial support package, provided through the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal, will make possible the production of the KM³ event which will include a seasonal public artwork that will be placed in the Quartier Latin, and numerous temporary works and installations ($1.5 million), and the creation of two permanent public artworks ($1 million). The new permanent works will be acquired by the City of Montreal, will be located on Émery Street and on the Parterre in the Quartier des Spectacles and will be part of the KM³ circuit. This contribution to KM³ is one of the Quebec government’s gifts to Montreal on the occasion of its 375^th anniversary.

This is a collective project involving the participation of several exhibition spaces and a number of building owners and private spaces in the Quartier. In addition to the two major financial partners – the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec and the Ville de Montréal – the following partners have also committed to participating: the National Film Board of Canda, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Goethe-Institut, the Université du Québec à Montréal, and the real estate developer Rachel Julien. Still more partners will make spaces available for the event, including the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, the Société métropolitaine de transport, and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.

CURATORS AND ARTISTIC VISION FOR KM³

The curators and scenic artists for this inaugural edition are Melissa Mongiat and Mouna Andraos, the co-founders of the creative studio Daily tous les jours and creators of the famous 21 Balançoires/21 Swings installation and the interactive multimedia installation McLarena. The curators are working in close collaboration with Julie Bélisle of the curatorial team at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, who will serve as visual arts consultant for the event, and with Guillaume Lord, participating as an associate scenic artist.
The artists invited to participate in KM³ will explore the theme of urban coexistence by creating works and installations inspired by the Quartier itself. “We want to present artworks and installations inspired by the constituent elements of the urban landscape – streets and sidewalks, street furniture, vegetation – with the aim of encouraging the public to see the urban ecosystem from a new perspective. These works will seek to transform people’s everyday rituals in surprising ways. We want art to give a new dimension to daily routines, showing them in a new light,” explain curators Melissa Mongiat and Mouna Andraos.

ABOUT KM³

In the fall of 2017, the Quartier des Spectacles will present an all-new experience showcasing new forms of temporary public art, and permanent public artworks. KM³ will consist of 20 artworks and installations set up throughout the Quartier on building walls, in public spaces and in unconventional sites. The event will run for six weeks, from the end of August to early October, 2017 and feature contributions from the visual arts, urban art, digital art, design and architecture. The works and installations, created mainly by Quebec artists specifically for the event, will encourage people to see the city in a new light, and invite them to experience urban space differently. The project is funded by the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal, the Ville de Montréal and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications.

ABOUT THE QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES AND THE PARTNERSHIP

The Quartier des Spectacles is Montreal’s cultural heart, boasting North America’s most concentrated and diverse group 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 involving cutting-edge lighting design, immersive environments or interactive digital spaces. Year round, the Quartier presents artistic video projections on several buildings. The Quartier des Spectacles is an international 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 some 60 members active in the district. The Partnership’s team programs cultural presentations, oversees activities and manages public spaces, specialized facilities, illumination and promotion within the Quartier des Spectacles. The Partnership is supported by the Ville de Montréal and the Secrétariat à la région métropolitaine.

For more information, visit quartierdesspectacles.com.

Images

Download link: https://we.tl/d8aWTGJQy4

Contact

Marie Lamoureux | marie.lamoureux@quartierdesspectacles.com | 514 923-6772

ANNEX

MELISSA MONGIAT and MOUNA ANDRAOS
Curators and scenic artists

Melissa Mongiat and Mouna Andraos are the co-founders of Daily tous les jours (DTLJ), a studio that creates multidisciplinary works at the intersection of design, technology and citizen participation. Their installations, including 21 Balançoires and McLarena, designed for the Quartier des Spectacles, seek to bring wonderment back to everyday life by encouraging encounters and conversations. They are also behind Chorégraphies pour des humains et des étoiles, the first digital artwork to be included in the Ville de Montréal collection of public artworks, as well as curation and scenic design for Extra Fantômes, an exhibition presented at the Gaîté lyrique in Paris in 2016.

Their work has won several awards, including the Phyllis Lambert Grant presented by the Bureau de design de la Ville de Montréal (2010), Best in Show at the Interaction Design Awards (2013), the Grand Award at the UNESCO Shenzen Design Awards (2014), the Knights Cities Challenge Global Innovators Prize (2015) and, most recently, a Fast Company Innovation x Design Award. They are frequently invited to give lectures and lead workshops around the world.

JULIE BÉLISLE
Visual arts consultant

Julie Bélisle is a member of the curatorial team at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, where she is responsible for research and development activities in digital content. She holds a doctorate in art history and was project manager for the Galerie de l’UQAM from 2004 to 2015. Dr. Bélisle has also worked on several digital exhibition projects (Virtual Museum of Canada, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec). She is the vice-president of Les Éditions esse, has worked as an independent curator, and has published numerous articles about Quebec artists in a variety of periodicals and collections.