
“This exhibition expresses fundamental values of humanism and peace that are so important to me. Expo 67 contributed to opening Montreal and all of Quebec up to the world, and, fifty years later, people from around the world live here, where they share their culture and their hope for peace.”
– The Honourable Louise Arbour, Ambassador of La Balade pour la Paix, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Forming part of the official program for Montreal’s 375th Anniversary, La Balade pour la Paix was designed and organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) with the support of McGill University. This public art exhibition of international scope also commemorates two other milestones: the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 and the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.
Niki de Saint Phalle, Dancing Nana (Rouge d’Orient – Bloum), 1995. François Odermatt Collection, in collaboration with the McGill University Visual Arts Collection. © 2017 Niki Charitable Art Foundation / ADAGP / SODRAC | Charles Joseph, Residential School Totem Pole (detail), 2014-2016. Private Collection. Photo Greg McKee 2016 | Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark), LOVE Blue Green, 1996. Buschlen Mowatt Nichol Foundation, Vancouver Biennale loan. © Robert Indiana / SODRAC (2017). Photo Dave Aharonian | Michel Huneault, Boarding and Departure from Budapest, Hungary, for Germany (detail), from the series “Occident Express,” 2015. Courtesy of the artist. | Darren Ell, Haitian Girls in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, from the series “Cap-Haïtien and Shada,” 2008. Courtesy of the artist.
The curators for La Balade pour la Paix are Nathalie Bondil, Director General and Chief Curator, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Diane Charbonneau, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts and Photography, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Sylvie Lacerte, public art consultant and art historian.
“Simplicity is the glory of expression,” Walt Whitman said. The route was designed by Claude Cormier + Associés, an international landscape architecture firm based in Montreal. The urban furniture is by Quebec industrial designer Michel Dallaire.
The organizers wish to thank the project’s many artists, lenders, collaborators and institutional and private partners, as well as the Ville de Montréal and the residents of Sherbrooke Street, who have agreed to accommodate these sculptures, photographs and flags.
The Museum extends its thanks to Quebec’s Ministère de la Culture et des Communications for its essential contribution, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Canada Council for the Arts for their ongoing support.
Presenter of the Museum’s Year of Peace
in collaboration with