Montreal's luminous art walk brightens up city and spirits amid winter darkness

This year's version of Montreal's outdoor art exhibittakes walking in a winter wonderland to a whole new level.

Arranged in the city'sQuartiers des Spectacles at the start of December, a series of colourful, interactive installations make up the 12th edition ofLuminothrapie,a luminous art walk that invites visitors of all ages to come out and play.

"Kids, adults, everybody has so much fun and you have music as well in the experience, so this is kind of a family activity," saidCatherine Girard Lantagne, director of programming and production for the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.

This year, spectators are invited toengage with five interactive and contemplative works, including Impulse, one of the most iconiccreations, markingits third year in the exhibit, Girard Lantagne said. The installation is made up of large, illuminated seesawsthat glow and vary in tone and intensity as you move them up and down.

Entre les rangs, made up of thousands of luminous, flexible stems designed to evoke a fieldof wheat swaying in the wind, secured a place in the exhibitfor a second year in a row.

Icebergis a tunnel of illuminated metal arches that each make a particular sound to mimic water dropletsas ice melts;andNovaprojects a video inspired by the motion of water linked to Montreal's rivers on surrounding buildings.

Girard Lantagnesays each year,people come from every district in Montreal to view the installations.

"Now we realize that peoplewant more and more, so the activities start to change," she said.

Arguably the most imposing and popular interactive structures this year is a luminous 4.5 tonne, 17-metre steel whale, which dims its light and sound if spectators get too close as a way of portraying the harmful impactof humans invading nature.

Erected inPlace des Festivals, Echoes: A Voice From Uncharted Waterswon the coveted spot forthis year's major installation in the annual multidisciplinarypublic art competition held by the Quartier des Spectacle.

Lastly, withCur dansant,the Quartier des Spectacles becomes a dance floorfor five minutes every evening at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

"You can't stay and don't dance with this moment," Girard Lantagne joked, "so this is an element to put some joy in the winter and the darkness."

Providing light therapy the English meaning of luminothrapie is the idea behind the eponymous annual exhibition, she explained.

This year's Luminothrapie installations are open from Dec. 2, 2021 to Feb.27, 2022, free of charge.

Exhibit is a real form of therapy, expert says

Last year, the darkness of the pandemic upped the event's popularity "more than ever," according to Girard Lantagne, as Montrealers yearned for some much-needed holiday cheer.

And as the winter season brings shorter days and longer nights, one doctorsaysthe event may actually live up to its name.

"I'dsay that the [art exhibition] really is therapeutic at multiple levels," saidDr. Robert Levitan, the head of depression research atToronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

For years, Dr. Levitanhas been recommending light therapy to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which involvesexposure to bright,ultraviolet-filtered artificiallight for about 30 minutes every morning.

SAD is a seasonal depression thataffectsthree to five per cent of the Canadian population disproportionately young womenduring the darker winter months.

Although the art exhibition is intended to be explored at night, and no controlled studies have been conducted to show its effects on mental health, Dr. Levitan said it might provide multiple benefits.

"It's possible the light itself is sufficient, I suppose, to have a biological effect... but it also gets [people] out of their house, soit's got a behavioural activation component."

Behavioural activation therapy can helppeople suffering from depression by using activitiessuch asgetting outside, breathing fresh air andinteracting with people. Novel experiences, something many of us lost throughout the pandemic, Dr. Levitan explained,also releasecertain mood-improving chemicals in our brains.

"Good art is very novel and very exciting," he said.

The 12th edition ofLuminothrapieat the Quartier des Spectacles opened Dec. 2, 2021and ends Feb. 27, 2022.It runs from noon to 10p.m. Monday to Thursdayand noon to 11p.m. Friday to Sunday. Visiting the installations is free.