Wonder at the crossroads of contemporary art and urban heritage
Quebec City, Wednesday May 14, 2025 - When EXMURO unveiled its new Aire publique program in April, it promised many more surprises for the summer season. Today, it's keeping its word by announcing an all-new new miniature art traila amazing miniature golf facility co-presented with Ateliers Belleville, as well as a enhanced food offering at its café de l'Aire publique. The latter reopens its doors this Friday to welcome three powerful and resolutely committed exhibitions.
Local and international artists, local collaborations, works of art that take over our streets to provoke surprise: for summer 2025, EXMURO is rolling out a series of artistic projects free and open to all. Head for the EXMURO Public Area and the surrounding area!
Reopening of the Aire publique under the banner of boldness and commitment
This Friday, EXMURO's Aire publique reopens its doors to the public! Carried by the theme of art at the frontiers of chaos, the new program transforms the premises into a veritable theater of artistic exploration, where three major figures in contemporary art invite us to become collectively aware of the urgency to act. While video installations by Pipilotti Rist (Ever is over all, Open my Glade, Sip my Ocean) illuminate the stone walls, historic vaults and vast windows of the Public Area, Isaac Cordal takes over one of the galleries with its site-specific exhibition, Follow the leaders. Feigning Eden, for a time chaos by Martin Bureau is presented in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The immersive installation plunges viewers into a tense diplomatic huis clos while chaos rages outside. Between dark humor and hard-hitting dialogue, cultivating a fragile hope for the future, the three artists take turns examining our current drifts through immersive and critical works. They ask straightforward questions about the climate crisis, the perversions of capitalism, the notion of identity and resistance.
Cement Eclipses: an outdoor miniature art trail
Did you know that Saint-Pierre Street was once considered Quebec City's "Wall Street"? It's this past that Isaac Cordal evokes with his journey of over 45 miniature sculptures, which unfold on several facades of former banks on and around the street. At the intersection of urban art and historical context, Cement Eclipses delivers a poetic and critical dialogue, discreetly adorning facades and other urban elements. Our architectural heritage is enhanced by this original itinerary, which questions inequalities, climate change and the human condition. It is an extension of Follow the Leaders, an exhibition by the same artist presented at l'Aire publique.
Minigolf Belleville Plaisirs: an original co-production with Ateliers Belleville
For the very first time, EXMURO has teamed up with Ateliers Belleville, a Montreal-based artistic hub. The result of this collaboration: a playful mini-golf course designed by 18 Quebec artists, inviting the public to experiment with an artistic detour of this popular pastime. Faced with absurd stagings and unexpected obstacles, participants will actively discover a plurality of artistic universes in a kitsch and friendly atmosphere. Starting on June 20, the interactive work will brighten up an area of Quebec City to be unveiled shortly. It will feature works by Ludovic Boney, Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Sabrina Ratté, Cooke-Sasseville, Niti Marcelle Mueth and Wolfe Girardin, Ahreum Lee, Pascal Dufaux and Sarah Wendt. With this installation at the crossroads of precision sport and contemporary creation, EXMURO and Ateliers Belleville are redoubling their creativity to make art accessible to all.
Improved local food offering at Café de l'Aire publique
EXMURO is committed to promoting local artisans of all kinds to nourish body and soul! That's why this summer, our friendly Place-Royale café will be showcasing products from a number of gourmet local partners, including Café Fantôme, Bügel, La Barberie and Ferme Simard. Tasty beverages, lovingly prepared artisan bagels, alcohol-free products, syrups and responsible frozen treats will be on sale.
With the intention of offering the best frozen meals in town, Ferme Simard will be offering its prepared meals in individual formats. Grown in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, unsold fruits and vegetables are transformed into tasty meals, combining the fight against food waste with responsible agriculture. Whether eat-in or take-away, this local and nutritious offering enhances the artistic experience and promises to impress.
Passers-by, the curious and art-lovers alike: the entire population of Quebec City is invited to let itself be surprised by EXMURO's summer program, both inside the walls of the Aire publique and outside, in the streets of the city!
About EXMURO art public
Beyond the walls, EXMURO shakes up codes and surprises with its artistic interventions. Since 2007, under the artistic direction of Vincent Roy, the organization has been designing, producing and distributing public artworks in Quebec and abroad. EXMURO also runs Aire publique, a contemporary art space housed in a heritage building in the heart of Place Royale in Quebec City. This inclusive space makes art accessible to all. Conceived as a place to live and exchange, it houses a café-boutique with terrace, as well as a co-working space.
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