Summer vacation usually means escape. But a change of scenery doesn't have to involve a plane ticket—sometimes all it takes is a shift in perspective. In Montreal, certain cultural experiences have exactly that power: they transform how we see the city by getting us to interact differently with our surroundings and reflect on what connects us to our environment.
That's the thread running through PHI's summer programming, where exhibitions, immersive installations, and artistic projects all circle the same idea: offering new ways of inhabiting the world.
Photograph: Malthe Ivarsson / Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Nature as a digital archive
Otherworlds, by Jakob Kudsk Steensen, is easily the most immersive offering of the season. Working at the intersection of digital art, scientific research, and sound design, the Danish artist draws visitors into ecosystems where technology reveals what usually escapes the naked eye.
By opening a window onto ecological realities that often go unseen, the exhibition prompts reflection on the interactions between living things and the consequences of our actions on the environments we share. Whether it's abandoned resort towns reclaimed by nature or the Arolla Glacier in Switzerland, the installation lets you explore these little-known places and discover the stories of the people working to preserve them—while offering a quietly moving take on our relationship with the world around us.
The experience immerses visitors in landscapes imagined from living matter, where nature and technology meet to propose a different reading of our environment.
Photograph: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio / Paola Pivi & Perrotin.
Seeing, Doubting, Marvelling
You can also shift your perspective through laughter. With Come check it out
Lies lies lies, Paola Pivi turns a meditation on our relationship with images into an experience as playful as it is disorienting. Visitors step inside a structure that surrounds them with dozens of screens.
Then, after a pause, more than 40,000 images from around the world begin to scroll past while a voice rattles off an avalanche of falsehoods—some obviously absurd, others surprisingly plausible. Between the visual overload, the unexpected associations, and some downright comical moments, telling truth from fiction becomes nearly impossible. Sound familiar?
Without ever preaching, the installation invites us to consider how screens shape our understanding of the world, while leaving plenty of room for wonder, curiosity, and the pleasure of being caught off guard.
For those who want to dig deeper, guided tours are offered weekly in both French and English, exploring the artistic approaches, references, and themes that run through the works.
When Sound Becomes a Place
A change of perspective can also come through the senses, as PHI proves with Habitat Sonore: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane, a state-of-the-art immersive listening room. Presented alongside the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, this summer's programming gives new dimension to albums by John Coltrane, Arlo Parks, and Dominique Fils-Aimé through a spatialized audio system.
The experience, which also marks the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane's birth, invites you to slow down and hear familiar works in an entirely new way. Here, music becomes a space you can inhabit and explore.
Works Rooted in the Realities of the Land
The two artist-in-residence projects start from the same question: what does a territory reveal about the society that inhabits it? This free exhibition spotlights the research of resident artists Eva Quintas and the collective Spoonful of Dirt, who have spent the past several months exploring Montreal.
In Montréal Harbour – Exploratory Walks, Eva Quintas examines the different ways people inhabit the areas surrounding PHI, from the future Molson district in the east to the Bridge-Bonaventure sector in the west.
Through photographs, videos, and conversations with residents, she assembles a portrait where memories, daily life, and urban transformation intersect. One detail stands out from her research: although the neighbourhood runs along the St. Lawrence River, the river itself is strikingly absent from residents' stories.
Spoonful of Dirt, for its part, turns its attention to the animal species that have vanished from Montreal's landscape as the city grew. Crafted in clay and watercolour during participatory workshops, the silhouettes of this lost fauna return to haunt the exhibition space—a reminder that cities aren't shaped by humans alone.
Running beneath both projects is the same question: what might a city imagined differently look like? Rather than delivering a definitive message, they offer starting points for thinking about how we occupy space and coexist with what surrounds us.
This range of programming is part of a broader commitment to making culture accessible. For the past year, PHI has operated on a flexible pricing model that lets visitors choose what they want to pay for the main exhibitions.
Those planning to return regularly can also opt for the PHI+ annual membership, which includes free access to the main exhibitions year-round plus discounts on various related activities.
A change of scenery doesn't always mean going far. By bringing together experiences where art, technology, environment, memory, and music intersect, PHI offers plenty of ways to discover Montreal differently—simply by changing your perspective.
Ready for a change of perspective? Explore PHI's full summer programming and plan your visit now on the official website.
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