Partner Galleries & Co-Presenters – Manif d’art 12 – Québec City Biennial

From Québec City to Joliette, these cultural spaces bring to life engaged, sensitive and experimental artworks — and play a key role in the visibility of contemporary art across the province.

Discover the galleries, artist-run centres and museums presenting exhibitions and installations as part of Manif d’art 12 – The Québec City Biennial. Spread across the cultural districts of Québec City, as well as Lévis, Joliette and Montréal, these venues form a unique network dedicated to contemporary art, research and creation.

Each space presents a co-produced exhibition, ranging from performance, installation and video to digital works, sculpture and interdisciplinary projects.

Galleries & Museums in Québec City

The cultural districts of Québec — Saint-Roch, Old Québec, Montcalm, Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Wendake — host a series of contemporary art exhibitions created or adapted specifically for Manif d’art 12. These venues invite visitors to explore the aesthetics, stories and artistic practices shaping the contemporary scene locally, nationally and internationally.

Méduse – The Heart of Contemporary Art in Saint-Roch

Méduse is unique in North America: it is a cooperative of community-based cultural and art producers and disseminators. Opened in 1995, the 53,300-square-foot facility, located in downtown Quebec City, houses twelve influential nonprofit artist-run cultural organizations: Ahkwayaonhkeh, Antitube, Atelier de la mezzanine, Avatar, La Bande vidéo, La Collection Méduse, Engramme, L’Œil de Poisson, Productions Recto-Verso, Spira, VU, and Manif d’art.

A must-visit to experience the vibrancy of Québec City’s independent art scene.

L’Œil de Poisson — Méduse — District: Saint-Roch

L’Œil de Poisson is involved in both the distribution and production of contemporary art. The Centre seeks to promote any form of artistic investigation and exploration that breaks down walls in artistic practices and stimulates transfers or encounters between disciplines. It does this by showcasing issues and practices that constantly redefine the presentation and nature of contemporary art, rather than conform to a predefined notion of the subject. L’Œil de Poisson fulfills its objectives through various projects it executes and produces for exhibitions, exchanges, events, lectures, publications, workshops and shows.

Address : 541 rue Saint-Vallier Est, Québec
Website : oeildepoisson.com

Ahkwayaonhkeh — Méduse — District: Saint-Roch

Ahkwayaonhkeh is the very first Wendat artist-run centre, located on the Nionwentsïo. Its mission is to promote, develop and disseminate current Wendat artistic practices. The goal is to support today's artists and promote their interests, but above all, to create a legacy for the younger generations and those to come, who will benefit from an organization dedicated to them.

Address : 580 Côte d’Abraham, Québec
Website : ahkwayaonhkeh.org

La Bande Vidéo — Méduse — District: Saint-Roch

Founded in 1977, La Bande Vidéo is a support center for the creation and dissemination of media arts specializing in video art and animated film. It promotes research with the video medium through extensive technical expertise, advocating for the use of traditional tools as well as modern equipment. The center has a gallery open to the public and four studios destined to research and creation.

Address : 541 rue Saint-Vallier Est
Website : labandevideo

VU – Centre for Photography — Méduse — District: Saint-Roch

VU is an artist-run centre whose mission is to promote and support research and creation in the field of photography by working with artists and contributing to the dissemination of and reflection on their work.

VU offers artists and the public a program of exhibitions complemented by roundtables, screenings, external projects, and activities dedicated to photography. VU is also committed to the photobook as a space for reflection and research for artists, producing books and organizing activities around the medium. Production spaces and services in digital and analogue photography are offered to artists and members of VU. Artist residencies foster the development of practices that participate in the current concerns around photography.

Address : 580 Côte d’Abraham
Website : vuphoto.org

Engramme — Contemporary Printmaking — Méduse — District: Saint-Roch

Engramme is an artist-run center that has promoted original printmaking since 1972, providing renewed impetus to this leading area of the visual arts. A founding member of the Méduse cooperative, it is equipped with specialized printmaking facilities. Engramme also holds exhibitions in its gallery throughout the year.

Address : 501 Côte d’Abraham
Website : engramme.ca

Maison de la littérature — District: Old Québec

A major component of Quebec City’s library network, Maison de la littérature is a unique concept in North America: a venue dedicated to the creation, presentation, and promotion of literature and writing. Maison de la littérature is a meeting place for writers, literary professionals, and the general public. It was developed through a partnership between Ville de Quebec and the ICQ (Institut canadien de Québec), which manages it.

Address : 40, rue Saint-Stanislas, Québec
Website : maisondelalitterature.qc.ca

Grand Théâtre de Québec — District: Montcalm

For over fifty years, the Grand Théâtre de Québec has played a pivotal role in the presentation of performing arts, contributing significantly to the cultural enrichment of the residents of the Capitale-Nationale and eastern Québec. As a prominent hub for live performances, the Grand Théâtre showcases a diverse array of local, national, and international acts to audiences of varied backgrounds. Since 2019, the Grand Théâtre has extended the use of its multipurpose STUDIOTELUS to visual artists working in new technologies. This initiative provides them with an exceptional platform for production, exploration, and presentation, highlighting the potential and diversity of contemporary digital and technological art practices.

Address : 269 boulevard René-Lévesque Est, Québec
Website : grandtheatre.qc.ca

Galerie des arts visuels (Université Laval) — La Fabrique — District: Saint-Roch

The Visual Arts Gallery's mandate is to promote research in the visual arts. It offers the artists it hosts a privileged environment conducive to research and experimentation. Through its programming of solo projects, workshops, and conferences, as well as the distribution of its annual publication, Cahiers, it contributes to the pursuit of a reflective practice that affirms art as a unique form of knowledge. Located in the heart of Quebec City's cultural district, the Galerie des arts visuels is part of an important network of dissemination centers with which it forges fruitful links and to which it contributes through its distinct mandate.

Website : art.faaad.ulaval.ca

Le Lieu — Artist-Run Centre — District: Saint-Roch

Through its annual programming, Le Lieu, centre en art actuel is committed to disseminating contemporary art, with an emphasis on performance. Each year, the programming committee selects and invites artists in response to a call for submissions, focusing on the relevance of practices from the vast field of action art, on a local, national and international scale.

Le Lieu supports the local action art community through meetings, training sessions and conferences. It also makes its spaces and resources available with the aim of promoting action art.

Address : 345, rue du Pont, Québec
Website : inter-lelieu.org

LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE — District: Saint-Roch

Founded in 1978, LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE is devoted to experimental work in visual and digital arts and the exploration of new technologies as part of an international residency and exchange network. This “laboratory” is focused on research, creation, production, documentation, training and distribution.
As an artist-run centre in Quebec City, LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE also promotes visual and digital arts. It serves as a meeting place for people interested in its mission, bringing together artists, makers, hackers and anyone who wants to get involved in the community or explore contemporary cultural issues.

Address : 185, rue Christophe-Colomb Est, Québec
Website : chambreblanche.qc.ca

Galerie Chiguer Art Contemporain — District: Saint-Roch

Representing some twenty of the most influential Quebec and Canadian artists of their generation, Chiguer art contemporain works to promote Quebec and Canadian art, both nationally and internationally.
By supporting experimentation and research, the gallery highlights sensitive, committed and innovative practices in a wide variety of media.
Founded in Quebec City ten years ago under the name Galerie 3, the gallery adopted its current identity in 2022 and opened a second space in Montreal, in the Belgo building in the heart of downtown. Now present in both these cultural hubs, it is run by its founder, Abdelilah Chiguer, a figure who has been committed to promoting contemporary Canadian art for over a decade.

Address : Québec : 247 rue Saint-Vallier Est
Website : chiguerartcontemporain.com

Centre Materia – District: Saint-Roch

Materia is the research, production and outreach centre of the Maison des métiers d’art de Québec (MMAQ). The centre presents contemporary craft productions that lie at the crossroads of various disciplines such as design, architecture, visual arts and heritage.

Centre Materia caters to a diverse clientele and its mission is to offer programming that reflects the uniqueness, relevance and diversity of practices at the local, national and international levels. The exhibitions showcase current creations in the fine craft arts, while building bridges between contemporary and traditional knowledge and skills. This diversity reflects Materia's commitment to embracing and promoting all forms of material art.

Address :395 Charest East Boulevard, Québec City
Website : centremateria.com

Beyond Québec City

Manif d’art 12 also extends to Wendake, Lévis and Joliette, offering audiences the chance to discover local and international artists in renowned cultural institutions.

Musée huron-wendat — Wendake

Since 2008, the Huron-Wendat Museum is dedicated to conserving and presenting the heritage of the Wendat nation. Through its permanent exhibition Wendat endi’ renewed in 2024, its program of temporary exhibitions, and its thematic workshops and other activities, it helps the public understand and appreciate the knowledge, history, culture, and arts of the Wendat people and North America’s Indigenous nations. The museum is also a first stopping point on visits to numerous heritage sites in Wendake, including Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Church, the Kabir Kouba Falls, and Tsawenhohi House. Visitors who wish to take home a piece of history will find a selection of Indigenous art at the museum’s gift shop.

Address : Wendake
Website : museehuronwendat.ca

Regart — Artist-Run Centre — District: Vieux-Lévis

Established in Lévis in 1986, Regart is an artist-run contemporary art centre that ensures that the visual arts remain dynamic and accessible to the public of Chaudière-Appalaches and Capitale-Nationale. In galleries, storefront windows and public spaces, Regart’s programming showcases hybrid and experimental works that highlight artistic quality and the importance of theoretical discourse. By promoting innovative projects, research and exchange, the Centre aims to be an open space, a field of possibilities where dialogue with artists and mediation with the public are fundamental values.

Address : 6018 rue Saint-Laurent, Lévis
Website : centreregart.org

Maison Natale de Louis Fréchette — Lévis

Housed in an exceptional heritage building on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, the Maison Louis Fréchette is a literary and artistic museum that has been an integral part of the Lévis community for over a decade. A place for encounters and exchanges, the MLF showcases creativity in all its forms, with a particular focus on literature and contemporary arts. Through approximately sixty annual activities — exhibitions, performances, Jos Violon International Storytelling Festival, outreach programs, artist residencies, and participatory projects — the Maison Louis Fréchette strives to be a dynamic professional space where the art of speech, the power of language, and the vitality of visual arts converge in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

Address : 4385 Rue Saint-Laurent, Lévis, QC G6V 3V9
Website : maisonfrechette.com

Musée d’art de Joliette — Lanaudière Region

Founded in 1967, the Musée d'art de Joliette's mission is to acquire, conserve, promote and present historic and contemporary works by artists from Quebec, Canada and abroad, through exhibitions and cultural and educational activities. With its luminous architecture and prime location in front of the Outaragawe sipi (L'Assomption River), the Musée d'art de Joliette is one of the first buildings to welcome visitors at the entrance of the city of Joliette. Its collection of over 8,000 artworks is one of the largest in Quebec.

Address : 145, rue Père-Wilfrid-Corbeil, Joliette
Website : museejoliette.org

FAQ – Visiting the Galleries & Co-presenters of Manif d’art 12

Which cultural districts host the Manif d’art 12 exhibitions?

The exhibitions are spread across Quebec City's main cultural districts: Saint-Roch, Old Quebec, Montcalm, and Saint-Jean-Baptiste. They are also located in the community of Wendake and the cities of Lévis and Joliette.
Each site presents an exhibition created or adapted specifically for the Biennial.

How can I plan a contemporary art itinerary in the Saint-Roch district?

Saint-Roch is home to a dense concentration of artist-run centres, most of them located within Méduse. To make the most of your visit:

  1. Start at Méduse (L’Oeil de Poisson, VU, La Bande Vidéo, Engramme, Ahkwayaonhkeh).

  2. Continue along Saint-Vallier Est Street, where several venues are within walking distance.

  3. Plan for 2–3 hours to explore the exhibitions at your own pace.

  4. Use the interactive map (available on the website) to navigate between spaces.

What types of exhibitions can I see during Manif d’art 12?

The co-presenters offer a rich variety of contemporary practices, including:

  • immersive installations

  • video and media art

  • Indigenous contemporary art

  • photography

  • printmaking and expanded print media

  • performance

  • sculpture and interdisciplinary projects

Each venue offers a unique curatorial perspective on today’s artistic landscape.

Are the exhibitions free?

Most exhibitions presented in artist-run centres and partner venues in Québec City are free of charge.
Some museums or venues outside Québec City may require paid admission depending on their own policies.
Detailed information is available on each exhibition page.

Where can I find contemporary art galleries near the city centre?

The Old Québec, Saint-Roch, and Saint-Jean-Baptiste districts are within easy walking distance from the city centre.
Key venues nearby include:

  • Maison de la littérature

  • La Chambre Blanche

  • Grand Théâtre de Québec

  • Méduse (about a 10–12-minute walk)

Can I visit all the venues in a single day?

It is possible to visit 4 to 6 venues in the same day, depending on distances and your pace.
However, to fully experience the installations, performances and exhibitions, we recommend planning your visit over 2 to 3 days, especially if you wish to include Wendake, Lévis, or Joliette.

Is there an interactive map of the exhibitions?

Yes. An interactive map will be available on the Manif d’art website to help visitors plan their itinerary.
It includes:

  • addresses of all venues

  • distances and suggested routes

  • opening hours

  • accessibility information for each site

What is a “co-presenter” in the context of Manif d’art?

A co-presenter is a cultural partner (artist-run centre, gallery, museum) that hosts an exhibition as part of the Biennial.
It is a true collaborative partnership where each venue contributes to the presentation and visibility of an artist or project curated by Manif d’art.

Are the exhibitions suitable for families and children?

Yes. Most venues are family-friendly, and many exhibitions are accessible to younger audiences.
Some immersive or audiovisual works may require guidance depending on the child’s sensitivity.