For visitors to Montreal on the search for the most cutting-edge experience filled with art, music, film, and culture, we have the best places to direct you to. There’s something for every type of music, film and art buff in this fine city. There’s more than we have room in this posting to tell you about. We will do our best to round it out to the non-negotiables, the spots we feel you MUST hit to get your cutting-edge culture fix in the belle ville.
National Film Board (NFB) Cinerobotheque – 1564 St. Denis
The National Film Board Cinerobotheque is a screening venue in Montreal that offers its visitors a unique experience. It is composed of two theatres, workshops inspired by National Film Board films, individual viewing stations that allow access to over 10,000 films, and a sales and rental counter. Its mission is to reach out to the public with films and culture, history and education.
Musee D’Art Contemporain de Montreal – 185 St. Catherine West
Devoted exclusively to contemporary art, this museum is an ideal place to discover local creativity and leading international trends in contemporary art. The museum showcases paintings, drawings, engraving, installation, film, photography, video, and sculpture. On top of the art experience, it even offers an amazing culinary option with its in-house bistro, Le Contemporain, offering local recipes with local ingredients (cheese and charcuterie being notable offerings).
Darling Foundry/Cluny Art Bar – 257 Prince Street
Not only can you have lunch here, but it is also doubles as a contemporary art centre that supports creation and dissemination of the work of up-and-coming artists. The Darling Foundry is a visual art centre and an alternative complex composed of two adjacent buildings – one for public, and one for the artists. Recently renovated, these buildings offer exhibition spaces, production studios, live-in studios for artists, and the Cluny Art Bar, where you can go and eat amongst art and artists.
POP Montreal Music Festival
This festival occurs in the heart of the fall every year and showcases both local and international musicians from every music genre in venues across the downtown core of Montreal. This festival attracts people from far and wide, and when it comes to the Montreal music scene, this is one of the defining moments of the year for culture and music enthusiasts who celebrate Montreal as Canada’s leading culture hub.
Photo courtesy of Cluny