Summer exhibitions at Montréal museums

Explore the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

The Pop of Life! Pop Art in the Collection of the MMFA showcases iconic works of Pop Art from the Museum’s collection, including creations that have rarely or never been shown. The exhibition brings together installations, sculptures, paintings, textiles, drawings and prints by Canadian artists associated with the Pop movement, such as Pierre Ayot, Edmund Alleyn and Joyce Wieland, alongside their international contemporaries, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Eduardo Paolozzi. Runs to July 28.

Renowned Winnipeg artist Wanda Koop’s first monographic museum presentation in Québec, Who Owns The Moon runs to August 4.

Tōkaidō: Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige showcases the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō” by the legendary Japanese 19^th century ukiyo-e artist and printmaker runs to September 8. 

Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools: Three Hundred Years of Flemish Masterworks exhibition from The Phoebus Foundation’s world-class collection of early modern Flemish art transports visitors to the Southern Netherlands during a dynamic period of social, scientific, economic and artistic development (1400-1700). Runs to October 20.

Reliving the past

The Olmecs and the Civilizations of the Gulf of Mexico exhibition at the Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex in Old Montréal explores the first known civilization of Mesoamerica, documenting nearly four millennia of history, trade and cultural traditions that are still shrouded in mystery. Runs from April 18 to September 15.

The first Canadian team in Major League Baseball, the Montréal Expos were the best baseball team in the major leagues in 1994. For the 30^th anniversary of this legendary season, Pointe-à-Callière’s display case traces the evolution of Nos amours and recalls highlights of their journey with collectible objects, videos, and archival photos. Runs to September 2.

The Saint-Henri exhibition explores the vibrant and captivating history of a unique Montréal neighbourhood, runs to May 11, 2025.

Families will also enjoy Pointe-à-Callière’s permanent Come Aboard! Pirates or Privateers? interactive exhibition.

Visitors are encouraged to purchase their tickets online before visiting the museum. 

Pointe-à-Callière also presents the exhibition Montréal Capital City just a few steps from Pointe-à-Callière, in old Fire Station No. 1 on Place D’Youville. Artifacts discovered on the archaeological site of St. Anne’s Market and the Parliament of the Province of Canada will transport you back to the mid-19th century, a time when Montréal became the country’s capital. To complement your visit, visit the outdoor exhibition A Parliament Under Your Feet, where you can stroll right over the market’s remains. Free admission. Runs to September 3.

Avant-garde art at PHI

The PHI Foundation of Contempory Art in Old Montréal presents two new exhibitions, FEELING HER WAY, an immersive installation by British Afro-Caribbean artist Sonia Boyce, consisting of bespoke wallpaper, posters, photography, sculpture, video, and sound; and Efflorescence/The Way We Wake displays recent paintings and sculptures by artists Rajni Perera from Sri Lanka and Marigold Santos from the Philippines. Both exhibitions run to September 8. Free admission. 

The PHI Centre presents Habitat Sonore in one of Montréal’s only spatial audio listening rooms. Artists featured are Daft Punk, KALLITECHNIS and others. Runs to August 11. Click here for complete schedule.

Ancient Egypt revisited

The PHI also presents The Horizon of Khufu: A Journey in Ancient Egypt, a unique VR expedition that brings together ancient history and new technologies to relive the reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu and explore the 146-metre-high Great Pyramid of Giza, Khufu’s final resting place built between 2,590 and 2,565 BC. Visitors wander through galleries and spaces inside the Great Pyramid before reaching its top for a breathtaking view of modern Cairo and the Giza Plateau, then board an Ancient Egyptian sun boat on the Nile to witness the funerary rite of Khufu 4,500 years ago. 

The Horizon of Khufu is located in the Old Port next door to the Montréal Science Centre. Children under 8 not admitted. The 45-minute immersive experience has been extended to September 1.

OASIS immersion

Canada’s largest indoor immersive attraction, OASIS immersion at the Palais des congrès de Montréal presents Dreaming of Asia, a walk-through museum-type experience where visitors enjoy three spellbinding state-of-the-art immersive experiences inspired by the cultural heritages of China and Japan including graceful Japanese prints that have struck the imagination of people worldwide, strolling immersed through the famed Chinese painting Along the River during the Qingming Festival, and seeing Piying shadow puppets come to life.

In collaboration with National Geographic, OASIS immersion presents a second brand-new immersive exhibition, Root for Nature, inspired by the historic COP15 agreements. Root for Nature immerses visitors in a striking interpretation of biodiversity via immersive digital arts and informative educational zones.

The VAN GOGH - Distorsion exhibition is back for the summer. Journey through more than 225 paintings, drawings and sketches and a contemporary look at Van Gogh's works in the acclaimed immersive exhibition which runs to September 2.

Click here for OASIS immersion schedules and tickets.

The Little Prince

Presented for the first time in North America, The Little Prince Among Men exhibition explores the wonderful world of the Little Prince and the fascinating life story of writer, poet and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry, at Place Bonaventure  to September 2.

The Musée d'Art Contemporain (MAC) at Place Ville Marie

The ecology-themed group exhibition femmes volcans forêts torrents at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal – widely known as The MAC (or “Le MAC” in French) – features the work of nine women artists currently living in Québec: asinnajaq, Jacynthe Carrier, Maria Ezcurra, Caroline Gagné, Anahita Norouzi, Nelly-Eve Rajotte, Sabrina Ratté, Sonia Robertson and Malena Szlam. Runs to August 18.

Also at The MAC, des Dieux, et des Monstres (of Gods, of Monsters) is a 3D rendered collage by Montréal-based artist Mara Eagle. This sprawling mural portrays a seascape featuring a lively cast of semi-divine humanoids and monsters leisurely floating in an oceanic reverie. Runs to September 15.

All MAC contemporary art exhibitions are presented at the MAC’s temporary location in the Place Ville Marie shopping mall during the museum’s current $57-million renovation. The new MAC will open in 2028. 

Click here for tickets and directions.

Montréal today and yesterday

As part of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial, the McCord Stewart Museum in the Golden Square Mile presents Presence of the Past by Kanien’kehà:ka artist MC Snow whose installation immerses the viewer in a space with 40 objects he chose from the museum’s Indigenous Cultures collection, as well as contemporary works, from which he drew inspiration to create two original sculptures at the centre of the exhibition. Runs to August 18.

Known as one of the pillars of 20th-century fashion photography, Norman Parkinson is the subject of the comprehensive exhibition Norman Parkinson: Always in Style which presents 79 of his best-known images. This North American premiere runs from April 19 to September 2.

The complementary exhibition Portraits and Fashion – Quebec Photographers Beyond Borders brings together prints by 17 photographers who are shining a spotlight on Quebec talent on the international stage. In addition to their fashion photographs, the exhibition presents a gallery of 100 portraits of such icons as Céline Dion, U2, Nelson Mandela, Zidane, Mika and Adele. The exhibition catalogue is published by the McCord Stewart Museum and BT Publishers. Runs to September 29.

The permanent exhibition Indigenous Voices of Today: Knowledge, Trauma, Resilience pulls together 100 carefully selected objects from the museum’s Indigenous Cultures permanent collection.

The art of architecture

The Canadian Centre for Architecture in Shaughnessy Village is not just an architectural jewel in the heart of downtown Montréal, but a world-renowned museum of architecture and international research institution that believes “architecture is a public concern.” 

Visibly Iroquoian is an installation by interdisciplinary performing artist Ange Loft which runs to September 2024.

The exhibition madskills: Self Documenting Construction on Social Media investigates popular social media clips documenting construction work by those present on site. Runs to October 20.

The exhibition Into the Island follows architect Xu Tiantian in her discovery of essential elements, pressure points, and issues on the destabilizing terrain that is the ocean and its delicate ecosystem. Runs to November 17.

As CCA founder Phyllis Lambert says, “We’re not a museum that puts things out and says, ‘This is architecture.’ We try to make people think.” 

Space for Life museums

Children of all ages can discover new worlds at Montréal Space for Life, the largest natural-sciences museum complex in Canada. Montréal Space for Life comprises the Botanical Garden, Planetarium, the Biosphere, Insectarium and famed Biodôme. 

In the Planétarium, the domes of the Chaos and Milky Way theatres are equipped with state-of-the-art laser projectors for an ultra-HD experience. The Planétarium offers a double bill each day. 

Over at the Botanical Garden, in addition to the carnivorous plants, visitors can admire superb passionflowers and begonias in full bloom, and see fruit growing on banana, carambola, jackfruit and papaya trees, daily in the greenhouses. 

The Biosphere environmental museum presents Weaving the Ocean: in Ari Bayuaji's Studio, an immersive installation in which artworks by Ari Bayuaji use plastic threads from the plastic ropes found on the shore lines and mangrove on the coasts of Bali. Runs to September 8.

The Biodôme takes visitors through the five ecosystems of the Americas. The Biodôme is a huge crowd-pleaser. 

The renovated Insectarium is the first museum in North America where you can observe so many species of insects live – some roaming freely – and naturalized in one place.

Purchasing fixed-time tickets online is highly recommended.

The Ecomuseum Zoo

The Ecomuseum Zoo is the only outdoor zoo on the island of Montréal and offers visitors a unique and natural experience to observe 115 animal species – including Black Bears, Woodland Caribou, River Otters, Turtles, Canada Lynx and Eagles – found in Québec’s Saint Lawrence Valley. The popular 11-hectare zoo located in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is a 30-minute drive from downtown Montréal. There is also free on-site parking for all guests. 

The Ecomuseum Zoo is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. The last admission of the day is at 4 PM. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. 

Montréal Science Centre 

The Montréal Science Centre in the Old Port of Montréal presents the outdoor Techno Garden where visitors discover how technology can support urban agriculture. Runs to September 29.

A North American premiere, the all-new interactive exhibition Banquet is an immersive experience that will transform visitors into apprentice cooks. Learn how science is baked right into gastronomy and the culinary arts by exploring five exhibition zones: The Kitchen, the Appetizer, the Banquet, the Show, and the Educational Workshop. Runs to March 16, 2025.

The children-friendly permanent exhibitions at the Montréal Science Centre are all open, while its IMAX cinema screens films for all ages, including Australia 3D: The Wild Continent.

Click here for the screening schedules of the latest films.

Château Ramezay – Historic Site and Museum of Montréal

Originally built in 1705 by Montréal’s then-governor Claude de Ramezay as his personal residence, the Château Ramezay in Old Montréal is the oldest private historical museum in Québec. Permanent and seasonal exhibitions attest to the far-reaching history of Montréal, but none so much as the Château Ramezay itself, which served as the Canadian headquarters of the American Revolutionary Army in 1775-1776, and where Benjamin Franklin stayed when he tried to persuade Montréal to join the American revolution. 

The museum also currently presents two temporary exhibitions, Traces and Memories of the Seigneurial System in Quebec and Seigneurs of Montreal: The Sulpician Priests, which retrace the seigneurial system from the early days of French colonization in North America in the 17th century. Both exhibitions run to September 8.

The Château Ramezay welcomes visitors daily from 10 am to 5 pm. No reservations required. 

Our Lady of the Harbour

Visitors are transported back through time at the Marguerite Bourgeoys Historic Site which houses the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in the heart of Old Montréal.

Built in 1771 over the ruins of an earlier chapel, the Marguerite Bourgeoys Historic Site houses a museum dedicated to Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, the Frenchwoman who founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montréal and was the colony’s first teacher back in 1653 (Bourgeoys was canonized by the Vatican in 1982). Bourgeoys is buried in the chapel. 

Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel is also known as the “Sailor’s Church” not just because it overlooks the harbour, but because it was famed in the 19^th  century for being a pilgrimage site for sailors who arrived in the Port (now the Old Port).  

Visitors can climb the chapel’s belvedere to join the “angels of Ville-Marie” and enjoy spectacular views of the Old Port and Old Montréal, as well as visit the permanent Meet Marguerite! exhibition exploring Bourgeoys’ personal saga and legacy.  

The historic site is open daily from 11 am to 6 pm during summer.

Tickets can be bought online or at the door. Free admission to the chapel.

Heavenly exhibition

Created by the Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal to mark the bicentennial year of the birth of Mount Royal Park’s creator, famed American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), the temporary exhibition Our Mountain: Memories of Mount Royal tells the 5,000-year-old story of Montréal’s iconic “mountain” located in the heart of the city. Runs to January 5, 2025.

The permanent exhibition at the Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal explores the 300-year history of Montréal’s first hospital, Hôtel-Dieu, along with that of the Hospitallers of Saint Joseph, a pioneering community of women who laid the foundations of the healthcare system, in Montréal and elsewhere in Canada. 

Located in the trendy Plateau Mont-Royal, the museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 AM to 12 PM and from 1 PM to 5 PM, and weekends from 10 am to 5 pm.

Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal

Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal is a cutting-edge art centre located in the hip, urban Griffintown neighbourhood, and promotes and develops contemporary Canadian art by exhibiting local artists.

Presented by ELEKTRA since 2012, the largest exhibition dedicated to digital art in North America returns to Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal: Biennal ELEKTRA Illusion explores the post-factual, post-truth and alternative-reality era currently reshaping society and the news. This 7^th Biennal showcases the works of more than 20 guest artists. Runs to July 21.

Diane Dufresne: L’exposition immersive, Aujourd’hui, hier et pour toujours explores the work and legacy of the beloved Québec diva who is celebrating her 80th birthday this year. Runs from September 13 to October 13.

Écomusée du fier monde

Dedicated to exploring the history of Montréal’s working class, the Écomusée du fier monde is open from Wednesday to Sunday.