One more thing that blew my mind was Cité Mémoire, a project by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon. For the next four years, Old Montreal’s building facades, cobblestone streets and trees will be lit with multimedia projections inspired by the history of the city. Each projection can be activated by anyone using a cellphone app. My favorite, by far, is an Algonquin creation myth which comes to life in a narrow, cobblestone alley off of St Paul. As the story is narrated on one’s phone, accompanied by rhythmic indigenous songs and music, the street fills with seawater churned by breaking waves, ocean foam, and schools of tiny fish. The projections are interactive. If one decides to wade into the water flowing under one’s feet, swaths of red are left behind before they merge back into the dancing water. Towards the end of the story, living and breathing algae and colorful vegetation seem to bloom into the alley. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.
Teaser – Cité Mémoire 2016 from Montréal en Histoires on Vimeo.