One of the largest ephemeral public art event in Canada

PASSAGES INSOLITES : Public Art event in Quebec City

PASSAGES INSOLITES is a public arts festival featuring a circuit of temporary artworks as well as artistic happenings in public space. Presented by EXMURO arts publics and the City of Quebec, this accessible event has been taking place every summer since 2014, for several months, in the historical and central neighbourhoods of Quebec City.

For 8 years now, PASSAGES INSOLITES has been helping Quebec City embrace the unexpected and the unusual by weaving public art into the urban and social fabric of its central neighbourhoods. Ephemeral artistic interventions propagate and amplify a true culture of the strange throughout the city. By bringing new vitality to downtown neighbourhoods and redefining available entertainment experiences, PASSAGES INSOLITES injects a dose of magic and poetry into the often-rigid context of a functioning city. Temporary passages created in the urban landscape divert traditional uses, shift conventional perspectives, and break up the monotony of everyday life.

L’organisme EXMURO arts publics

EXMURO arts publics is a non-profit organization whose mandate is to design, create, and disseminate contemporary art projects in public spaces. Since 2007 EXMURO has constantly explored new avenues for presenting public artworks in the city. Through a range of projects, EXMURO works to expand the artistic possibilities of public spaces by reaching out to audiences to spark dialogue and foster critical thinking. For EXMURO, public art affords a freedom of experimentation and expression that is a necessary counterweight to the forces of standardization and pragmatism that govern so many facets of urban life. By weaving artworks into the urban fabric, we create possibilities to break through uniformity and standardization to create original and surprising experiences and encounters. 

EXMURO arts publics develops large-scale projects that build community and drive artistic development, and is recognized as an international leader in the world of public art, thanks to: 

• Nearly 15 years’ experience designing and developing artworks and multidisciplinary projects in public spaces. 
• Workshop and production spaces in Quebec City, and an experienced technical team. EXMURO has also successfully led remote co-productions with international artists. 
• Presenter of major events such as PASSAGES INSOLITES (since 2014, Quebec City) and HUMANORIUM – The Strange Carnaval (since 2016; presented in Quebec City, Montreal (2017), Summerside, PEI (2018), Saint John, NB (2018) and Trois-Rivières (2019)). 
• Developer of circulation projects to promote the work of participating artists and its achievements and expertise designing and presenting temporary public artworks in other cities in Quebec, Canada, and internationally. 

exmuro.com