This year the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership is marking its 10th annual winter event, Luminothérapie, with an interactive installation entitled POP! by Montréal creative studio Gentilhomme.
“For the last 10 years, Luminothérapie has brought colour and lit up our winter. The POP! installation promises to delight people once again, while showcasing Montréal’s immense pool of creative skill. I invite all Montréalers to embrace the winter and enjoy everything that Luminothérapie and the Quartier des Spectacles have to offer,” says Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal.
In the middle of Place des Festivals stand five enigmatic monoliths, in which POPO, POPUP, POPLI, POPETTE and POPOTIN are enclosed.
With the public’s encouragement, calls and chanting, each monolith gradually lights up until it opens, freeing a creature that 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, which can be viewed until January 26, 2020.
Since 2016, six Luminothérapie installations have been exhibited on 77 occasions in cities including New York, London, Brussels, Jerusalem, Lugano, Toronto, Chicago and Washington.
“It has already been 10 years since the first Luminothérapie! The event has become an essential activity for our wintertime visits to the Quartier des Spectacles, and it is also a springboard for numerous artists. Each year, the experience is renewed, and each edition is as bold as the last. These installations have a universal and unifying character that allows them to delight thousands of people all over the world,” says Monique Simard, chair, Quartier des Spectacles Partnership board of directors.
