Exhibitions at Montréal museums
Blockbuster exhibitions about iconic activist artist Joyce Wieland and legendary filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée are among the many must-see retrospectives and expositions at Montréal museums this Spring 2025.
Explore the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The MMFA in the Golden Square Mile presents the world premiere of the retrospective Joyce Wieland: Heart On which celebrates the subversive and politically engaged work of Joyce Wieland (1930-1998). Through some 100 works, it delves into her multifaceted practice – covering drawing, painting, experimental film, textile and plastic assemblages – that spanned some 40 years. Runs to May 4.
The Bad Girls Only: Women and the Seven Deadly Sins exhibition showcases some 20 rare Dutch and Flemish prints and drawings from the Museum’s collection. Dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, works on paper by Albrecht Dürer, Hendrick Goltzius, Jacob Matham and Hieronymus Wierix invite visitors to explore treasures from the Museum’s collection and to question historical associations between women and sin and their impact in the present. Runs to August 10.
Organized by the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, in collaboration with the MMFA, Worlds of Wonder is the first Canadian solo exhibition of Montréal-born artist Alan Glass (1932-2023) who lived most of his life in Mexico. It reveals the artist’s unique exploration of Surrealism across varied media, ranging from drawings to intricate assemblages. Runs April 17 to September 28.
Comprising over 100 works and archival documents, Berthe Weill, Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-garde features paintings and sculptures by major figures of Modern art ranging from Pablo Picasso to Suzanne Valadon. It is the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to the career and artistic vision of Berthe Weill who opened her Paris gallery in 1901 in the bustling neighbourhood of Montmartre and played a seminal role in the development of Avant-garde movements in France in the first half of the 20th century. Runs May 10 to September 7.
For her first solo exhibition in a Québec museum, Marie-Claire Blais unveils an entirely new body of work, composed of several paintings and a sound work, as the Streaming Light suspended installation that gives this exhibition its name. Runs June 13 to January 4, 2025.
The Canadian premiere of world-renowned Albanian artist Anri Sala's immersive video work Ravel Ravel Interval (2017) in the Museum’s Contemporary Art Square runs to April 27. This installation – on which Montréal pianist Louis Lortie collaborated – launches the MMFA’s celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the birth of composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937).
Reliving the past
The Saint-Henri exhibition at the Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex in Old Montréal explores the vibrant and captivating history of a unique Montréal neighbourhood. Runs to May 11.
The exhibition Witches: Out of the Shadows (Sorcières : de l’ombre à la lumière) chronicles the little-known history of witches with more than 400 objects from European and American collections. Pendulums, crystals, tarot cards, herbariums and interactive elements enable visitors to explore such practices as divination, spells, healing, and protection rituals, and examine the beliefs, symbols and fascinating practices of witchcraft. Runs to April 6.
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.
Avant-garde art at PHI
At the PHI in Old Montréal, the hotly-anticipated exhibition Jean-Marc Vallée: Mixtape offers visitors a multimedia and sound journey into the memory and work of the famed Montréal film director for whom mixtapes were an essential part of his creative process. With the participation of Marc-André Grondin, Evelyne Brochu, Denis Villeneuve, Reese Witherspoon, Vanessa Paradis, Laura Dern and others. Runs to May 4. Free admission but reservations required.
The PHI also presents Habitat Sonore in one of Montréal’s only spatial audio listening rooms. Click here for complete schedule.
Life Chronicles
Embark on the Life Chronicles immersive expedition exploring our planet’s major evolutionary phases covering 3.5 billion years of the Earth’s history and the living organisms that inhabit it, including dinosaurs and the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex. Equipped with a virtual reality headset, visitors experience the past brought to life with stunning visuals and sounds grounded in meticulous scientific accuracy.
Life Chronicles is located in the Old Port next door to the Montréal Science Centre. Children under 8 not admitted. The 45-minute immersive experience runs to October 13.
OASIS immersion
Canada’s largest indoor immersive attraction, OASIS immersion at the Palais des congrès de Montréal presents three exhibitions, Root for Nature, VAN GOGH - Distorsion and weightlessness.
In collaboration with National Geographic, OASIS immersion presents 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. Extended to May 24.
The VAN GOGH - Distorsion exhibition is back. Journey through more than 225 paintings, drawings and sketches and a contemporary look at Van Gogh’s works in the acclaimed immersive exhibition. Extended to May 25.
The weightlessness retrospective highlights some of the most captivating and transformative creations that define the OASIS experience, blending visual and auditory poetry to transport visitors into captivating worlds and themes — from surpassing limits and embracing resilience, to finding comfort in the tranquil strength of the horizon. Runs to May 25.
Click here for OASIS immersion schedules and tickets.
Contemporary Art in the Underground
Artists from around the world are showcased in the 17th edition of Montréal’s Art Souterrain festival during which the city’s famed Underground Pedestrian Network is transformed into a four-kilometre-long contemporary art gallery runs to April 6.
The Musée d'Art Contemporain (MAC) at Place Ville Marie
The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal – widely known as The MAC (or “Le MAC” in French) – presents the Skyscrapers by the Roots: Reflections on Late Modernism exhibition explores the long life of late modernism in the field of architecture by bringing together a series of works created over the last decade by Shannon Bool, Kapwani Kiwanga, Rachel Rose, and Jonathan Schouela, a new film installation by David Hartt, as well as works by Lynne Cohen and François Dallegret produced in the 1960s and 1970s. Runs to August 10.
The MAC presents contemporary art exhibitions at their 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
The McCord Stewart Museum in the Golden Square Mile has selected Andrew Jackson for the third photographic commission in its Evolving Montréal series. The Montréal-based British-Canadian artist’s research-creation project Little Burgundy – Evolving Montréal explores the urban, social and cultural transformations of the neighbourhood known as the cradle of Montréal’s Black Anglophone community. Runs to September 28.
Drawn primarily from the McCord Stewart Museum’s famed Photography collection, the Pounding the Pavement: Montréal Street Photography exhibition chronicles street photography in Montréal from the 19th century to the present day, featuring more than 400 photographs by 30 renowned photographers. Runs April 18 to October 26.
The McCord Stewart also presents the exhibition Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927, showcasing outfits worn on these occasions from the McCord Stewart Museum’s renowned Dress, Fashion, and Textiles collection. Runs to August 17.
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.”
To Build Law – the upcoming documentary directed by Joshua Frank and exhibition curated by Francesco Garutti – follows the collaborative architecture practice bplus.xyz as they examine construction industry reforms, shift cultural norms and incentivize renovation over demolition and new construction. Runs to May 25.
The exhibition Records of Protest displays posters, fliers, periodicals, reports and news clippings from watershed moments, revealing peripheral positions and grassroots opposition in face of capitalism, colonialism, oppression and war. Runs to November 30.
Oscillating Spaces looks to the Rhône Glacier—undergoing fast melting and transformation processes—as a case study to reflect on environmental challenges in a constantly oscillating site. Juxtaposing glacier cartography, photography, film, ecclesiastical documents, tourist souvenirs and architectural archives, the exhibition questions the role of architecture when confronted with a shifting climate and an unstable landscape. Runs April 25 and October 26.
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.”
Espace pour la vie
Children of all ages can discover new worlds at Montréal Espace pour la vie, the largest natural-sciences museum complex in Canada. Espace pour la vie comprises the Botanical Garden, Planetarium, the Biosphere, Insectarium and famed Biodôme.
In the Planetarium, 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. The temporary exhibition about Canadian astrophysicist Hubert Reeves runs to September 1, and the Meteorites exhibition – displaying fascinating specimens from the Planetarium’s meteorite collection – runs to June 30.
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 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.
Located in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène, the Biosphere is an environmental museum.
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 all-new permanent exhibition Nanualuk – Northern Expedition to mark the centre’s 25th anniversary. Visitors embark on an immersive, interactive quest filled with more than 20 missions to accomplish, each featuring a different theme related to life in the Arctic, such as learning how to use a harpoon to “read” the ice, and finding your way using the stars. Every mission has a different level of difficulty.
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 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 19th 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 closed on Mondays, open from 11 am to 5 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and open 10 am to 5 pm on Sundays.
Tickets can be bought online or at the door. Free admission to the chapel.
Heavenly exhibition
The Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal presents the new exhibition Corpus Insolite: Jana Sterbak which invites visitors to experience the globally-acclaimed Montréal-based artist’s thought-provoking works in dialogue with the museum’s collections. In addition to the two works Sylvanus and Hot Crown, which have never before been shown in Montréal, Sterbak’s renowned Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic, first exhibited in 1987, will be remade for this exhibition. Runs to August 24.
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 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal
Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal is a cutting-edge art centre located in the hip, urban Griffintown neighbourhood, and promotes contemporary art by exhibiting Canadian artists alongside international artists.
A selection of recent acquisitions from the prominent Collection Majudia are showcased in a group exhibition of 24 artists, on display in the Arsenal’s vast sky-lit hall. Runs to March 30.
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. Their permanent exhibition All the Livelong Day! The Joys and Sorrows of Life in a Working-Class Neighbourhood chronicles Montréal’s Centre-Sud neighbourhood from the second half of the 19th century onwards, tracing its evolution through the pivotal periods of industrialization, deindustrialization and the community movement.
Centre de design
The Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Centre de design hosts the internationally-acclaimed architecture exhibition BUONE NUOVE. Originally produced by the MAXXI museum in Rome in 2021, the show documents the contribution of women to architecture over the years and highlights how women are breathing new life into contemporary practice today. The touring version of the show presents the works of dozens of Italian, Québecois, Canadian and international women architects who have changed the field of architecture. Runs to April 6.
Richard Burnett
Richard “Bugs” Burnett is a Canadian freelance writer, editor, journalist, blogger and columnist for alt-weeklies, mainstream and LGBTQ+ publications. Bugs also knows Montréal like a drag queen knows a cosmetics counter.