Eighth edition featuring Museum of Bad Art and public art circuit

Art is taking over the City of Québec.

PASSAGES INSOLITES, produced by EXMURO under the artistic direction of Vincent Roy and presented by the City of Quebec, is taking place from June 26 to October 11, 2021. This 8th edition, unprecedented in scale, has met a great success.

More than 20 unique and surprising works by artists from Quebec and around the world have been adding a touch of magic to the urban experience and transforming how we see the city. PASSAGES INSOLITES is open and accessible to all, and the art walk is a safe activity that’s ideal for the whole family. From ephemeral installations to unexpected encounters, art is taking over the city and popping up a street corner near you!

Main circuit
From the Petit Champlain area to the Saint-Sauveur district, a yellow line painted on the road is guiding visitors along the 5 km circuit of singular artworks. Intrigue, surprise, unexpected joys, and moments of poetry are the order of the day, as visitors enjoy 21 works that will make you see with fresh eyes. Artists and collectives have risen to the challenge with creativity, humour, and audacity, to take over the city with art and to create spaces of perpetual enchantment

Artists: Nicole Banowetz (United States), BGL (Quebec, Canada), Charles-Étienne Brochu (Quebec, Canada) Benedetto Bufalino (France), Delirious Québec (Quebec, Canada), Yann Farley (Quebec, Canada), Charles Fleury (Quebec, Canada), Susanna Hesselberg (Sweden), Mark Jenkins (United States), Pascale LeBlanc Lavigne (Quebec, Canada), Benoît Maubrey (Germany), Wartin Pantois (Quebec, Canada), Valérie Potvin (Quebec, Canada), Ulrika Sparre (Sweden), STYRELSEN FOR STÖR KONST (Sweden), Collectif Tel quel (Quebec, Canada), Sarah Thibault (Quebec, Canada), Collectif du Tropique (Quebec, Canada) Giorgia Volpe (Quebec, Canada)

Information point: Espace 400e

Performing arts
Like the artworks along the circuit, performing artists (dancers, circus artists, musicians, theatre artists, and multidisciplinary artists) are taking over the urban space to spark moments of magic in the Petit-Champlain, Place-Royale, and Old Port districts. This brand-new experience straddles the thin border between reality and imagination. Les embuscades (Ambushes)—stealth performing arts pop-ups in public spaces conceived by EXMURO, in partnership with Premier Acte and codirected by Marc Goudreau and Vincent Roy, is taking place from July 14 to August 22.

Performers: Théâtre Kata (theatre), Le CRue (dance), Flip Fabrique (circus), L’orchestre d’hommes orchestres (multi-arts), Jay Jay and Nicky Gee, in collaboration with District 7 Production (music).

Museum of Bad Art at Espace 400e
Curators: Mickael Franck (Curator in Chief) and Louise Reilly Sacco (Executive Director).

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is on tour from its Boston home for a first visit to Quebec City. For a single summer, an ephemeral museum houses a unique collection of the very best bad art in the world, work simply “too bad to be ignored.” Visitors are sure to find that there is a unique pleasure in work whose intent is serious but whose execution fails lamentably.

PASSAGES INSOLITES circulating works
EXMURO arts publics has also begun circulating works from PASSAGES INSOLITES to other cities in Quebec, Canada, and around the world as a means of promoting its artists, achievements, and expertise designing and presenting temporary public artworks. This year alone, Longueuil, Trois-Rivières, Terrebonne, Montreal, and Gatineau (as part of its Sentier Culturel (Culture Trail) initiative) are hosting works initially conceived and presented in Quebec City for PASSAGES INSOLITES.

EXMURO arts publics and the Ville de Québec are pleased to invite visitors to this outstanding event that walks off the beaten path to offer unusual and surprising encounters: a unique way to experience the city!

EXMURO and the City of Quebec would like to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Ministère de la Culture et des communications, the Canada Council for the Arts, Quebec City Tourism, the Government of Canada, the Consulat général de France à Québec. We are also grateful to site and artwork partners: OpenArt, the Assemblée nationale du Québec, the Grand Théâtre de Québec, and the Citadelle-Musée Royal 22e Régiment.