(light entertainment) The winter nights light even brighter during the 14th Montréal en Lumière, a festival of food, free outdoor activities (a ferris wheel, an ice slide and more!), music, theatre and dance shows, and other entertainment. Gourmet cuisine comes in all shapes and sizes at the festival, from multi-course meals to cheese samplings – see our Top 5 food picks for ideas. Tango enthusiasts and the curious are in for a treat at tango-meets-cabaret-meets-circus show and milonga La Pista Tango, the art of singer Tonny Bennett is on display, French music star -M- plays February 22, theatre-dance show The Humanity Project provokes deep thoughts, Haitian-born Québécois artist Marie-Josée Lord sings February 25, singer and pianist Diana Krall entrances in a solo concert on February 26, and none other than The Zombies rock out on February 28.

(circus & butterflies) Add far more than a dash of bright colour to snowy days at the 34th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, a internationally touring circus show featuring some of the top circus acts from the Paris-based competition of the same name, including acrobats, trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns, contortionists and more, to March 2 at La Tohu. More brightness awaits at the Butterflies Go Free exhibition at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, where 2000 butterflies and moths from around the world take up residence until the end of April. Or step outside at the Old Port to see the astounding athlethics involved in the Ice Canoe Races on February 23.

(dance & theatre) For the first time in Canada, the National Ballet of China performs Raise the Red Lantern, a classical Western ballet interpretation of Zhang Yimou’s dramatic film of the same name – the director even added his creative voice to the production by writing the libretto, designing the lighting and signing the stage direction – on stage February 22-24 at Place des Arts, presented by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. Danse Danse presents Corps de Walk, a thoroughly cool, contemporary-culture show (in music, movement and style) by choreographers Gai Behar and Sharon Eyal and 12 dancers of The Norwegian National Company of Contemporary Dance, February 28 and March 1-2 at Place des Arts.

(travel with art) Take a different kind of walk around downtown’s happening Quartier des Spectacles to the tune of Luminothérapie: use your iPhone or mp3 player to interact with art project Le jour des 8 soleils by artist Pascal Grandmaison who tells a story through video projects video projections on buildings in the area, from Berri-UQAM metro station to Place des Festivals and points in between. Indoors, visit Peru through its art, history and culture, presented in stunning detail at the MMFA’s Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and Moon. The Musee d’art Contemporain features intriguing large-scale colour photography by celebrated photographer Lynne Cohen and an immersive, mysterious multi-room installation called Uraniborg, by French multidisciplinary artist Laurent Grasso.

(live music) Old Montreal cultural hub the PHI Centre hosts Thus: Owls on Friday, February 22 and follows that up on Saturday, February 23 with amazing Haiti fundraiser party Kanaval Kanape, with performances by Arcade Fire with Haitian group Doody & Kami and a dancetastic afterparty – in partnership with Black History Month Montreal. Also on Friday, ska-rock the night away with The Planet Smashers at Club Soda, while Bosnian Rainbows play Cabaret du Mile End and the good folks at Passovah Productions throw a party with Young Galaxy, Valleys and many more (plus doughnuts from Chez Boris!) at Il Motore. On Saturday night, dance to the electronic music of Bordello, Vosper and Jealous Lovers at the SAT. On Sunday, the MSO hosts conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky and pianist Viktoria Postnikova, while The Montreal New Music International Festival showcases some of the best in new classical and experimental works. On February 25, feel the Irish spirit with Celtic Woman, February 25 at Place des Arts. On February 26, indie-experimental-rock artist Eels  is at Theatre Corona, and on February 27, Swedish House Mafia makes the Bell Centre thump.

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This world premiere opening on February 2, fully organized, mounted and toured by the MMFA, is loftier than any anthropological-style expo you might imagine because it covers thousands of years of history, including Peruvian art produced in modern times. In addition to displaying an extensive collection of pre-Columbian treasures and masterpieces from the colonial era to Indigenism, including over 100 pieces that have never before been seen outside of Peru, you will be able to bask in modern Peruvian creativity.

As curator Victor Pimentel says, “Through the representation and reinterpretation of myths, rituals and other primordial symbols of identity captured by different artistic traditions, the exhibition will illustrate how the evocative power of images have influenced the history of pre-Hispanic, colonial and modern Peru.” Here are three treasures you simply can’t miss seeing.

1) A photograph by the wonderful Amerindian artist Martín Chambi, titled Tristeza andina, La Raya, from 1933. At the beginning of the 20th century, Indigenism flourished as an artistic and intellectual movement in Peru based on revalorizing and reaffirming the country’s indigenous heritage. Works depicting scenes of Native life and the idyllic landscapes of the Peruvian countryside and highlands such as this one were to transform the visual culture of Peru in the modern era.

2) The figurehead work of the exhibition, featured on its posters and promotional material: A Mochica frontal ornament in the shape of a half-feline, half-octopus dating from 100-800 A.D. and recently repatriated and exhibited for the first time outside of Peru. Made of pure gold and intricately carved, it symbolizes the constant dialogue between the world of the living and the world of the dead that was an essential component of Andean spirituality.

3) A beautiful anonymous 18th century painting titled Young Virgin Spinning, from the era after the Spanish conquest of Peru in the 16th century that led to the hybridization of the Peruvian culture. Paintings like this one, from the School of Cuzco – established by the Spanish as a means of converting the Incas to Catholicism – testify to the powerful role played by images in the campaign to evangelize the Native peoples of the Andes.

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THE DETAILS

Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and Moon,  February 2 to June 16, 2013

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke West, (514) 285-2000

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In keeping with its mandate to involve artists in every way possible, the MMFA decided to involve Montreal collectives En Masse, Paprika and Rita to liven up their 16,000 square-foot art and education studios, where countless classes are given to kids of all ages.

En Masse is an intrepid fraternity of 30-plus boundary-breaking Montreal artists that has communal creativity as its very raison d’être. Mostly makers of street art, the collective first got involved with the museum last year with the super popular exhibition Big Bang. Their room in that show, painted, drawn and collaged from floor to ceiling in a black-and-white fairytale universe, was an absolute crowd favourite. Managed by the trio of Jason Botkin, Rupert Bottenberg and Fred Caron, En Masse makes murals where every participant – whether culled from a background in comic art, commercial illustration, graffiti or design – retains the freedom to create what they want. The result is ever-changing and fantastical.

“We’ve become big fans of En Masse,” says Nathalie Bondil, Director and Chief Curator of the MMFA. “After the scheduled disappearance of the impressive fresco they executed last year for our exhibition Big Bang, I wanted to give them another opportunity to exercise their creativity. As a link between the museum and the street, they are standard-bearers for the freedom of artistic expression for everyone, without barriers or discrimination.”

In addition to the mural work by En Masse, the new learning environment boasts multicoloured mobiles by Paprika and wacky furniture by Rita. There are also plush rainbows by Montreal artist Claude Cormier – because everybody needs a plush rainbow or two in life, right?

THE DETAILS

Michel de la Chenelière Art & Education Studios, 1380 Crescent Street, (514) 285-1600

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(walk in the park) This time of year is great for walking in any of the city’s many parks and neighbourhoods – the leaves have turned orange, yellow and red and are falling fast as our usual winter wonderland months approach. Walk the wide, level path up Mount Royal (and take the steps to the top for a great view of the city), or dress warmly and head to Parc LaFontaine for an afternoon picnic. Parc Jean Drapeau, located on an island in the middle of the St-Lawrence River and home of the Biosphere, offers plenty of free and natural distraction too.

(artistic freedom) Buzz abounds about the MMFA’s Big Bang show, a multidisciplinary event-exhibition that can be enjoyed on many levels, whether you’re an art aficionado or just looking for a dry place to spend a rainy day – it runs until January and entry is free! Twenty artists have teamed up to show not only their talents, but the interplay of their work with works in the museum’s collection – from the video work of Denys Arcand and Adad Hannah to choreographer Marie Choinard’s photography and En Masse collective’s graffiti-like mural art – the show is an intriguing and entertaining journey. Access to the museum’s wide-ranging permanent collection remains free as always – current exhibitions include Dorothea Rockburne’s first Canadian retrospective In My Mind’s Eye, an installation called Resolute Bay by Quebec artists Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue and paintings by Michael Merrill, inspired by the architecture of the Museum’s new pavillion.

(public entertainment space) Inside the Place des Arts complex is a newly-appointed public performance space: L’Espace Georges-Emile-Lapalme. And by public performance, I mean free performances – awesome! As part of this month’s Arab World Festival, the series Charabia (Babble) features film screenings, music, dance and visual art every evening until November 13. Meanwhile, as part of the Quebec Triennial, artist Lynn Marsh’s video installation, The Philharmonie Project (Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, movements 1 & 4), shows until the beginning of January. On November 17, enjoy a little klezmer-Quebecois music from Gadji Gadjo, and on November 18, hang with the Yoel Diaz Cuban Jazz Trio. Dance features too: learn the polka on November 20, and on the evenings of November 23–24, see performances from Louis Bédard Danse, Wants and Needs, and Isabel Mohn.

(modern art movement) The Musée d’art Contemporain’s Quebec Triennial, continues with free entry every Wednesday evening alongside the free events series featuring Montreal artists, performers and musicians – Tim Hecker on November 9, Dominique Pétrin and Georges Rebboh on November 16, Sylvie Cotton on November 23, and Martin Tétreault on November 30. Galleries – public, commercial and artist-run – in the Belgo building at 372 Saint-Catherine West are always free and open to the public: check out Galerie Pangée, Skol, Galerie B-312, Art 45 and many more. Up near Jean Talon Market, visit Battat Contemporary, currently showing new provocative work by truly great Canadian artist Sophie Jodoin.

(zine scene) While you can spend a fair amount of pocket change at Expozine, the two-day fair is more than a marketplace – it’s a celebration of Montreal’s incredible independent creators of books, comics, zines, poster art, crafts and assorted miscellany. Now in it’s 10th year, the event brings together not only over 270 exhibitors from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the US and Europe, but acts as a community meeting place and a free-form idea-generation zone. Often, Expozine happens around the same time of our first snow fall, but this just makes the whole experience somehow cozier – plus there are snacks and warm beverages: November 26–27, noon to 6 p.m. at Église Saint-Enfant Jésus (5035 St-Dominique).

(a lot like christmas) I’m just not ready yet. Seasons tidings and all the trappings seem to come earlier every year. But can I really feel irked in the face of the Montreal Santa Claus Parade? It’s been going on since 1925, after all, and tradition is tradition, just as happy, excited kids is the kind of excitement I can fully buy into. On November 19, see Santa Claus among the 20-plus floats making their way along Saint-Catherine street in downtown Montreal, from Fort Street to Saint-Urbain. And on November 25, Plaza St-Hubert hosts it’s own, if lower-key, Christmas Parade, starting at 7 p.m. on Saint-Hubert at Bellechasse and traveling down the plaza’s shop-strewn street to the corner of Jean-Talon.

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I’ve chatted a few times now with Nathalie Bondil, the Chief Curator and Director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. As a proud Montrealer, I love that she is conscious of the city as a whole; recognizing that we’re not all art intellectuals, Bondil’s mantra seems to be “art for the people”. After bringing international attention to the city with the fabulous and highly accessible Jean Paul Gaultier retrospective (which recently closed), the latest hype is happening just next door – and entry is FREE.

After a major renovation and expansion, the former Erskine and American Church has morphed into the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion. You may have noticed the sleek marble entrance that contrasts almost poetically with the original structure, or the recently unveiled bronze sculpture by David Altmejd – a very young Montrealer, I might add, born in 1974. Altmejd’s imposing four-metre tall sculpture, The Eye, (pictured above), is a fitting welcome for the building, which highlights Quebec and Canadian Art.

The contemporary design of the multi-level, north-end expansion now showcases specific themes and time frames. Starting at the top, level four is all about Inuit Art; level three is Founding Identities (1700s to 1870s); level two is The Era of Annual Exhibitions (1880s to 1920s); level one is Towards Modernism (1920s to 1930s); and the street level is The Age of the Manifesto (1940s to 1960s), which includes a mini-gallery devoted to one of my favourite Quebecois artists Jean-Paul Riopelle (next to Marc-Aurèle Fortin and Jean Paul Lemieux).

And did I mention that you can see all of this for FREE? Even the audio-guide rental is FREE. Opening weekend (Oct. 14 to 16) will also host a series of FREE activities for all ages and interests, including films, lectures, story-telling sessions, drawing workshops and more.

Besides all this, as well as the rotating exhibitions and installations, the must-see space is certainly the new Bourgie Hall. It boasts 444 seats (133 original pews), ornate décor, and enchanting Tiffany stained-glass windows, which have been painstakingly restored and spiffied-up. October 11 is the first concert open to the public and keep this spot on your radar for a complete fall and winter 2011-12 season of musical programming produced by the Arte Musica Foundation and various Montreal music organizations. There are two new Steinway pianos, two harpsichords, a chamber organ and a clavicytherium. I have no idea what the latter is, but I guess that’s just one more reason to go.

The Bourgie Hall will host about 130 spectacles. Busy professionals might want to take note of the Musical 5-à-7 series where you can kick back with an after-work cocktail, mingle with like-minded folk, then at 6 p.m. escape for an hour to the tune of chamber-music classics, world music or jazz. There will be ten of these Thursday concerts between now and next June. This, though, you have to pay for. Personally, I’m already looking forward to some bossa nova in February.

Finally, I must share with you another museum festivity also debuting this fall. The Big Bang exhibit will be open on November 6 and run until January 22, 2012 in the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, which is just across the street. For this, Bondil gave carte blanche to 18 Quebec artists to create an installation of their choice. This unique, multimedia love-in brings together filmmaker Denys Arcand, musician Melissa Auf der Maur, dancer Marie Chouinard, muralists Collectif En Masse, singer/songwriter Pierre Lapointe, playwright Wajdi Mouawad, circus artist Jeannot Painchaud, fashion designer Renata Morales, cartoonist Michel Rabagliati and architect Gilles Saucier, just to name a few.

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THE DETAILS

Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke West, (514) 285-2000

Bourgie Concert Hall, 1339 Sherbrooke Street West, (514) 285-2000

Photo Credit: Patricia Gajo

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My culinary cuisine is an additional aptitude that I be blessed avec. Epicurean delights gush from my various high-end apparati for cuisining. I have oodles of apps for cooking, but I don’t utilize any of them. Instead I just let me palate guide me. I feel the spices, the oils and the produce. They speak to me. I fuse my cuisine and my design in my edibles.

The sole being that could even verge on comprehension of my lifestyle aesthetic would be the nonpareil Jean Paul Gaultier. The divine celestial being of haute-couture, design and vision. He virtually compiled the publication on intrepid fashion. This is why the only important thing to do this summer is the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Can you imagine of anything more sublime? I am certain you can not. From June to October in Montreal, it promises to be an effusive event teeming with fashion, sketches, video and multimedia interaction. Bringing it to another plane of wondrousness, mannequins will have visages projected on them. How futuristique! I just, I just adore him. I idolize every morsel of his being. I breathe le Male, I am le Classique, and I bathe in Madame.

There are divers reasons for my elation about this exhibition. The couture, men in skirts, the enfant terrible! I’m budgeting how many times I will go between June 17 and October 2, 2011.

I Bid Adieu!

-Apelope.

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The JPG exhibit premieres here in Montreal and will subsequently travel to Dallas and then San Francisco. But why not come here during the summer, Montreal’s most seductive season? And why not see the made-in-Quebec exhibit in the city where it was born. There’s no other designer on the planet as creative, talented and provocative as Mr. Gaultier. A talented, homegrown team has put together the ultimate showcase of a most enchanting career – thus far. I know, I’m gushing.

Some key observations: The first novelty that guests encounter are the talking mannequins – which you just have to see to believe. Second, JPG’s illustrious portfolio spanning 35 years is not displayed chronologically but by theme, more specifically “boudoir, skin deep, punk cancan, urban jungle and metropolis”. Third, rooms are painted black, and as such lend a slightly eerie (in a good way), surreal ambience. A midsummer night’s dream, indeed.

In another unusual twist, Montreal will also welcome a massive parade in Gaultier’s honour on July 16, starting at the Museum and culminating at Quartier des Spectacles, where a JPG-fest will ensue. I heard that the honouree may show up to checkout the hoopla, but that hasn’t been confirmed as of yet.

I’d also like to add that, for those who want a bit of Gaultier to take home with them, there’s a catalog jam-packed with JPG photos, historical tidbits and celebrity anecdotes that’s available exclusively at the museum. More fashion-inclined shoppers can also pick up the classic mariner shirts at the MMFA gift shop or across the street at Holt Renfrew. So you’ll be able to have your stripes – and wear them too.

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THE DETAILS

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, June 17-October 2, 2011

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke Street West, (514) 285-2000

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In the 1980s, he sent men in skirts down the runway. In the ’90s, he put Madonna on stage in the infamous cone bra for her Blond Ambition Tour. Sources say the avant-garde French designer, whose daring coups over the years earned him the nickname “enfant terrible”, is excited about attending the June 17 premiere of his career retrospective in Montreal, which marks the 35th anniversary of the couturier’s own label.

Like the late McQueen, Gaultier stands out not only because of his technique but because of his art, identity and influence upon the world. “I wanted to create an exhibition on Jean Paul Gaultier more than any other couturier because of his great humanity,” said Nathalie Bondil, Director and Chief Curator of the Montreal Musem of Fine Arts.

Certainly, Jean Paul Gaultier’s avant-garde creations have always toyed with public perception of the human condition and social issues like gender roles and identity. His work has served as art and social commentary. For example, he’s known for using models who break the industry stereotype (think gender-bending, age, tattoos and piercings). Ultimately, though, his designs are also beautiful and ultimately wearable — and always with a sense of humour. Just like his vision of the world.

Organized in collaboration with the Maison Jean Paul Gaultier, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ exhibit is called The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk. Organized in six sections that thematically correspond to Gaultier’s creative development, the highly-anticipated show features some 120 ensembles Gaultier created between 1976 and 2010 (from both couture and pret-a-porter). Also on the menu are fashion photography and contemporary art by legends like Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, David LaChapelle, Mario Testino and Steven Klein, to name but a few. Many of these prints are on loan and have never before been seen by the public.

True to the couturier’s cutting-edge and playful aesthetic, a highlight of the exhibit will be thirty mannequins, their faces brought to life by audiovisual projection (created by local theatre company UBU)- Melissa Auf der Maur and Suzie Leblanc are among a handful of Montreal celebrities who lent their faces and voices to the mannequins.

Gaultier is well-known for his artistic collaborations with pop stars, filmmakers and leaders of contemporary dance. He’s worked with not only Madonna, but also Kylie Minogue, Pedro Almodovar, Peter Greenaway, Luc Besson, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and many more. The exhibit also includes sketches, stage costumes, multimedia film and video excerpts from the couturier’s work with concerts, videos, dance and television.

(Oh, and by the way, the cone bra is reportedly back, as part of Gaultier’s new 23-piece collection for La Perla lingerie.)

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, June 17-October 2, 2011

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke West, (514) 285-2000

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Guest Blogger Simona Rabinovitch is a Montreal native who lives Brooklyn, New York. She covers arts, culture, travel and entertainment-type stuff for the Huffington Post, Globe & Mail, ELLE Canada, Lonely Planet, Zink, DazedDigital and more.

Photo Credit: ©Mathieu Baumer, ©William Mazzoleni

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