Limoilou for a Market & Park Explore

"The Grand Marché offers its visitors privileged contact with more than a hundred producers and processors in the region. Located in the largest public square in Québec City and hosting many activities in its places, it offers a renewed experience to the rhythm of the seasons and arrivals." I don't know if it's something with the website translation but I love the wording of this.

"Québec City’s markets have evolved over time to meet the needs of the city’s residents. The city’s first covered markets were built in the early 19th century and originally stood in the city’s main public squares. Inspired by the world’s most iconic markets, this new, Grand Marché is a warm and welcoming destination unlike any other. The market is designed to be a major agrifood hub for the region, where visitors are able to interact directly with over a hundred passionate local producers and processors."




I found my favorite, thus far, almond croissant at La Boîte à Pain. What fun to have a coffee and a treat in this gorgeous agricultural-themed environment.


"The building is distinguished by its historic architecture, the choice of warm materials and the light-filled paths punctuated with greenery that immerses visitors in the atmosphere of a real gourmet village. A central square bathed in light serves as a place of relaxation and hosts special events. A single visit will charm you!"



The market place is located in ExpoCité, the largest event site in Eastern Canada. It is vast urban destination bringing together a series of indoor and outdoor facilities, and it is where some of the city's most popular cultural, sporting and corporate events take place.
We both liked The Meeting, the largest work of bronze cast in Canada . The sculpture depicts two young white-tailed deer balancing on top of each other. Like a reflection on an icy surface, their face-to-face symbolizes sporting competition and dialogue. The presence of the deer reminds us that the forest is not so far from Quebec City. The base of the work is decorated with cut-out skate blades reminiscent of the traditional stair railings of the Limoilou district (more about that below).
A brief stroll took us down Commemoration Alley which highlights key periods in the history of hockey in Quebec. Hit the Target playfully pays homage to the famous Slovak brothers on a giant table hockey game symbolizing the 1980s, when the career of these players was at its peak.

This Tribute to Joe Malone, the Bulldogs captain who led his team to two Stanley Cups, was very cool to me. It is made up of strata giving an effect of transparency, evoking the one called "the ghost" because of his ability to thwart opposing defenders.

As we were leaving, this dangling, glittering ball, with accompanying music, mesmerized us. 1000 FACES is a multi-sensorial kinetic experience created by a team of artists led by Alejandro Figueroa, aka +AMOR.
"Inspired by nature, in the dances of flocks of birds, its thousands of mirror fragments not only reflect each individual but also the surrounding environment, creating a sense of togetherness represented in its spherical shape. The fragments dance in tandem to the rhythm of nature: the wind, sun, and moon influence and determine their behavior."
"We are living in times of emancipation and wonder, but also of division and sorrow. 1000 FACES invites visitors to pause and reflect, encouraging communion, dialogue, reconciliation and relaxation. Cree composer Nigel Irwin’s original score, inspired by nature and ancestral chants, will allow the audience to reconnect with mother earth and feel the souls of the past. This contemporary art installation is dedicated to the Indigenous children discovered across Canada in unmarked graves, and aims to create a space for dialogue, awareness, and reconciliation."
Next, we headed into nature at the Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site. "In the heart of Québec City, surrender yourself to the beauty and tranquility of this urban park. Follow the trail of Jacques Cartier, witness his meeting with the St. Lawrence Iroquois. Experience the excitement of family events and activities. Take the bike trail and go have picnic on the grass."

Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named The Country of Canadas, an Iroquoian name. It was at this exact spot that from mid-November 1535 to mid-April 1536, his fleet lay frozen solid. Such history.
I could have watched this juggler for hours. So talented.
Limoilou is known for its early 20th century three-story brick houses, with their external wrought iron balconies and staircases and tranquil tree-lined streets.
The name ‘Limoilou’ derives from Jacques Cartier’s manor in Saint-Malo, France, and is an homage to the famous explorer. An agricultural hub from the mid-17th century until the late-19th century, Limoilou transformed into an industrial center for a number of years, before becoming a working-class neighborhood in the early 20th-century.
Limoilou is also home to one of the coolest Little Free Libraries- ever. This is a neighborhood we plan to return to. What fun discoveries.

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Alexander McQueen at MNBAQ...

Fashion and discounts are two of my favorite things so when Steve discovered that Wednesdays after 5 PM were ½ off nights at our local art museum, we were in. The draw was also the incredible special exhibit, Alexander McQueen: Art Meets Fashion.

A little museum history first. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), abbreviated as MNBAQ, opened as the Musée de la province de Québec in 1933. The museum was a provincial archives, arts, and natural science museum until 1962, when the natural science collection was removed. The museum was renamed the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in 2002.
We were here for the first Canadian exhibition of the work of the renowned British designer,  Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) . A major figure in the fashion industry between 1990 and 2010, Alexander McQueen was both a technical and conceptual virtuoso. Critically acclaimed, his collections reflect his great expertise in the design and manufacture of clothing. His creative process is rooted in both autobiographical and encyclopedic references, nourished by history, natural sciences, technology, media and popular culture.

This exhibition highlights the universality of the themes – life, death, nature, mythology, religious belief systems, the human condition, etc. – which are at the heart of Alexander McQueen's artistic approach and explore the interdisciplinarity that defined the career of this internationally renowned creator.
It isn't just the fashion that makes this particular exhibition so exceptional, it's the unique associations with art pieces. Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) , in collaboration with the MNBAQ, the exhibition consists of 69 McQueen outfits, 50 works of art from the LACMA art collection including a selection of historical costumes, 17 headdresses and shoes made by Los Angeles artist Michael Schmidt, as well as 32 artworks from the MNBAQ collection. Wow.


"The inclusion of Turkish Lord with Hounds (1923) in the MNBAQ collection is surprising, to say the least. The painting's theme aligns with the nineteenth-century French affinity for Orientalism, a fad that gained little traction among Québec artists. The lord is nevertheless sumptuously attired, and Gaston Hoffmann's idealized vision complements McQueen's interpretation of Middle Eastern garments."













"I like the concept of dressing people.
I used to not care whether people bought the clothes or not,
but I kind of like it now.
I wouldn't label that commercialism;
it's more like I do this work because
I want people to wear it."
-Alexander McQueen



How cool are these boots? They look like shoes on legs but the entire thing is a boot. They are from his Fall/Winter 2004-5 Pantheon ad Lucen collection.



"This checkerboard suit from Scanners flaunts Alexander McQueen's advanced cutting abilities: curved or squared, on the grain or bias, the pattern pieces are meticulously arranged to create a vibrant optical illusion, visually sculpting the body. His technique-first honed during Savile Row apprenticeships--can be compared to that of renowned American designer Gilbert Adrian, who similarly excelled in the graphic pattern placement of tailored suits. Both designers are noteworthy for beautifully translating traditional men's tailoring approaches for womenswear."
"It's a new era in fashion - there are no rules.
It's all about the individual and personal style,
wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels,
and up-and-coming designers all together."
-Alexander McQueen



Good Night Darthy (2006) by BGL was an interesting art pairing. This painted aluminum and plastic piece is a reference to "waste and overconsumption. The sculpture points out that Darth Vader, the mythical figure of sci-fi movies, a hybrid of man and machine, is also an object of the overconsumption that feeds pollution, as are all mass-market plastic action figures."

"The bullfight, or corrida, inspired McQueen's Spanish-influenced The Dance of the Twisted Bull (Spring/Summer 2002 collection). Interpreted by the designer as both masculine and feminine, the costume of the male matador informed the collection's silhouettes, with accents drawn from the traditional dress of female flamenco dancers. Tailored angles and draped ruffles blend in a collection that explores bullfighting's undercurrent of eroticism and death."
This display was paired with Pablo Picasso's La Tauromaquia, o arte de torear (The Art of the Bullfight).


I've included this video view of the exhibit, just to give you an even greater example of the uniqueness of all that was presented here. We knew nothing about the designer/man Alexander McQueen but now we feel we've had a thorough introduction and enjoyed it, too.

Alexander McQueen said, "I'm interested in designing for posterity." After viewing this amazing exhibit, he far surpassed his goal.

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