McCord 2025: On the Menu–Montreal

On the Menu – Montreal: A Restaurant Story

November 26, 2025 - October 18, 2026

The Montreal's McCord Stewart Museum has set the table for a journey through the city’s culinary history. This original exhibition—based on an idea by Lesley Chesterman—celebrates Montreal’s extraordinarily diverse and inventive food scene from the 1960s till today. Featuring a wealth of audiovisual testimonials, photographs, archives and objects displayed in an evocative setting, On the Menu highlights the evolution of Montreal restaurants, be they delis or fine dining establishments, and their crucial role in shaping the identity of both the city and the province. The exhibition also offers a voyage back in time: visitors will look back on iconic Montreal restaurants that have closed over the years and will recall their own experiences of family celebrations, good times with friends, and romantic dates. The restaurants featured evokes not only culinary tastes, but also shared memories.

Presented by the OVI Fund – Ionescu Family Foundation, the exhibition was made possible with the support of Lightspeed, Innovation Collaborator; the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ), Institutional Partner; and Power Corporation of Canada, Premier Partner – Montreal Stories.

Anne Eschapasse, the Museum’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated:

“The rise of Montreal’s dynamic, welcoming culinary scene since the 1960s has made the province, and the city in particular, a world-class foodie destination. With the help of approximately 400 objects, either from our collections or lent for the occasion, the exhibition recounts the stories of the people who built this industry and those who are helping it thrive today. The incredible enthusiasm and generosity of myriad contributors—individuals, corporations and institutions—during the planning of this project speak not only to the deep connection we all feel for our local restaurants, but also to the pride that our food scene inspires: Montrealers are simply passionate about their restaurants.”

Guislaine Lemay, Curator, Material Culture and curator of the exhibition, explained:

“The French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin famously said, ‘Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.’ And this is exactly what we have tried to do: demonstrate how, through its restaurants, Montreal has built an identity and continues to evolve.”

The reflection of an evolving city

Thanks to successive waves of immigration in the city’s history and the influence of the Expo 67, Montreal is home to restaurants featuring cuisines from around the world. This has created an open, inventive food scene, where a taste for the extraordinary has even inspired the décor of immersive restaurants that use projections, elaborate themed designs, and sensory details to create an all-encompassing dining experience that goes beyond the food. In On the Menu, the iconic signs—from high-end gourmet establishments to popular eateries—illustrate how the city’s wide variety of restaurants reflected its evolution as well as its cultural and social diversity. The exhibition also looks at how restaurants have affected the urban landscape, contributing to the development of certain districts.

Cooking with local products to celebrate one’s identity

Any discussion of Montreal’s culinary identity has to acknowledge the contributions of the Indigenous cultures who originally shared their knowledge about local resources. Although this knowledge was long ignored in favour of European tastes and traditions, the exhibition focusses on the renewed interest in this culinary culture rooted in local products as well as international influences from subsequent waves of immigration. The development of this distinctive culinary identity, which began in the 1950s, picked up speed with the 1968 founding of the ITHQ and the training of a new generation of chefs. A celebration of Montreal restaurants is also an opportunity to celebrate those who keep them going, despite the challenges inherent in the profession and recent economic instability.

Restaurant reviews: From pioneering women to social media

The exhibition also examines the evolution of restaurant reviews in Montreal, which were initially written by women. Long dominated by pioneering women like Helen Rochester, Françoise Kayler and Renée Rowan, restaurant reviews have moved from traditional media to social media, where influencers continue to promote the city’s flavours and experiences.

Lesley Chesterman, author, restaurant critic and exhibition spokesperson, elaborated:

“My first discussions with the Museum about doing an exhibition on Montreal’s restaurants took place ten years ago. I’m very excited to finally see this exhibition open. I’m sure foodies will eat up the fascinating history of restaurants in Montreal and Quebec. The timing couldn’t be better to spotlight the generation that transformed the city’s food scene in the 1960s and 1970s, while also celebrating emerging talent and the enduring success of beloved restaurants.” 

Montreal On the Menu contest: A year of restaurants to savour!

From November 26, 2025, to October 18, 2026, the “Montreal On the Menu” contest offers participants the chance to win one of eleven prizes awarded monthly—a meal for two in one of the city’s top eleven restaurants—as well as one grand prize: a year of fine dining, in other words, twelve experiences in twelve different establishments. Details and regulations can be found on the Museum’s website.

An appetizing visit for the whole family

Families visiting the exhibition can embark on a fun culinary adventure: interesting facts about Montreal restaurants, a treasure hunt for items in the galleries, and a variety of creative activities. A bonus challenge is to find Corkscrew, the little pig hidden throughout the exhibition. An activity booklet is available free of charge at the Museum ticket counter.

All photos in this article @ Nadia Slejskova

The dedicated internets address of this article or click on the title above the first photo at the top. 

For more information about current exhibitions and special evens associated with this exhibition, visit the McCord Stewart Museum website.

artch festival 2025

The artch Festival kicked off today!

Workshops, meetings, and performances
focused on artistic collaboration

October 15 – 19, 2025
12 p.m to 7 p.m.

Lobby, 1 PVM
1, Place Ville Marie, Montréal, QC

The artch festival kicks off today in the lobby of 1 PVM at Place Ville Marie, inviting the public to discover its 8th edition, centered on cooperation and creating together. Until October 19, from 12 PM to 7 PM, visitors can explore 150 works by 18 emerging artists, take part in workshops and critical discussions, and engage in creative activities focused on new forms of artistic collaboration.

artch stands out for its emphasis on artistic collaboration and collective innovation, questioning the ways in which artists organize themselves and interact with other stakeholders beyond the traditional art circle. In a context where the sustainability of artistic practices is more important than ever, this festival offers a fresh perspective on the role of artists in society.

Sarah Kitzy Gineau-Delyon, Executive and Artistic Director of artch stated:

"This program particularly reflects our mission: to support emerging artists in their professional development while creating spaces for dialogue and collective reflection. Each workshop and each meeting has been designed to offer concrete tools to artists, but also to question our ways of working and collaborating."

 Highlights of the week

• October 15–19 → Continuous performances by Madison Strizic

• October 15, 4 PM → Workshop Organizing an Artist Collective: Building, Structuring, and Funding Your Project

• October 16, 1:30–4:30 PM → Performance by Amara Barner

• October 17, 4:30 PM → Bilingual Panel Archiving Self-Managed Art Centers: Remembering Centers Across Canada

• October 18 → Creative workshops focused on recycling and material reuse

• October 19, 1 PM → Participatory Workshop Tie Alteration with Fannie 

Additional opportunities for discovery

True to its mission of democratizing contemporary art, artch maintains free access to its entire program. As places are limited for workshops, registration is required.

Since 2018, artch has supported more than 167 artists in their artistic careers, who now enjoy regional, national, and international recognition.

Check out the complete program here.

Musée des Hospitalières 2025: Medicine and Charity

Medicine and Charity:

Hôtels-Dieu from the Middle Ages to New France

From October 15, 2025

What did hospitals in New France inherit from French medieval hospitals?

Montreal's museum Musée des Hospitalières is presenting a new exhibition where the visitors of all ages will find the answer to this question and many others in a brand-new exhibition that covers two continents, the largest temporary exhibition ever mounted by the Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu. This exceptional and truly vibrant exhibition, Medicine and Charity: Hôtels-Dieu from the Middle Ages to New France, produced in collaboration with France, should be of interest to many visitors.

Featuring stained-glass pieces, sculptures, paintings, furnishings, tapestries, common objects related to patient care, and archival materials, the exhibition opens a fascinating window to the extraordinarily rich hospital heritage of France and Québec.

The Musée benefited from a fruitful partnership with four Hôtels-Dieu in France, founded between the 13th and 17th centuries in Tonnerre, Beaune, Chalon-sur-Saône, and Baugé. Several religious communities in Québec also lent artefacts: the Augustines of Québec City, the Sulpiciens of Montréal, the Grey Nuns, and, of course, the Hospitalières de Saint-Joseph. In addition, there was the valuable support offered by the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, the Université de Montréal, and McGill University.

Items never seen before in Canada

Visitors will have an opportunity to see almost a hundred remarkable works and archival materials from France classified as cultural assets and never before displayed in Canada, as well as more than fifty artefacts from Québec.

The exposition is a celebration of the history and heritage of hospitals in France and Québec, stretching back hundreds of years. The Hôtels-Dieu established in New France in the 17th century followed the long hospital tradition that began in the West in the Middle Ages, when charitable institutions – places of worship and welcome – were founded on Christian charity. Their purpose was to care for the poor and all those in a situation of vulnerability: the most disadvantaged, the infirm, the sick, pilgrims, and the elderly.

Pioneering women in the spotlight

The hospital environment was one of the few areas in which women, lay or religious, had the opportunity to put their management and/or caregiving skills to good use. The exhibition highlights women who played an essential role as founders or patrons, from Margaret of Burgundy to Jeanne Mance, who were respectively the founders of Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre in 1293 and Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal in1642, as well as Guigone de Salins, who, in the 15th century, took the torch from her late husband, Nicolas Rolin, at Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune.

This vibrant, vivid exhibition highlight an important part of the history of France and Québec – don’t miss it!

 

Acknowledgments

This project has received support from the Société des Attractions Touristiques du Québec through the Tourism Growth Program of Canada Economic Development for Québec Regions. The Musée receives operating funding from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec and from The Ville de Montréal. The Musée des Hospitalières extends its warmest thanks to its lenders, sponsors, and partners

All photos @Nadia Slejskova

For more information visit the museum's website.

Portrait of Jeanne Mance, Oil on wood.

McCord 2025: Africa Fashion

AFRICA FASHION

The landmark exhibition celebrating the irresistible creativity of the contemporary African fashion scene.

September 25, 2025 - February 1, 2026

This new McCord Stewart Museum's exhibition,  organized by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, is one of the largest ever dedicated to the African fashion scene. It showcases the creative energy of designers, makers and photographers from across the continent. Montreal is the only Canadian stop on an international tour that includes London, Brooklyn, Portland, Melbourne, and Chicago.

The exhibition features some one hundred garments and accessories, as well as textiles, photographs and videos, from the early 1960s till today, illustrating how African fashions have drawn international attention and become a powerful force for post-colonial self-expression.

The exhibition is organized into eight sections laid out chronologically from 1960 to today. 80 garment ensembles displayed on mannequins bring into light talented, cutting-edge designers from across the African continent. 

Africa’s cultural renaissance

The exhibition opens with 1960, the year that seventeen African countries became liberated of colonial rule. Tes newfound freedom generated a new sense of pride in being African that played out in literature, music, the arts and fashion. The first sections of the exhibition illustrate how various traditional cloths and textile practices from around the continent took on new political meaning in the context of independence. Thanks to the talent and influence of pioneers like Naïma Bennis, Shade Thomas-Fahm, Chris Seydou, Kofi Ansah and Alphadi who helped promote the booming industry, African fashions now have clients worldwide.

A vibrant continent alight with creativity

Focusing on the modern era, the second half of the exhibition demonstrates that the growth from the 1960s to the 2000s shows no signs of slowing in the new millennium. With the same desire for self-expression, designers and brands like Imane Ayissi, IAMISIGO, Moshions, Thebe Magugu and Sindiso Khumalo are charting their own course, pushing boundaries and opening up conversations around culture, race, gender and sexuality. The central exhibition space highlights a vibrant scene where African creations are leading the way in contemporary cutting-edge fashion. This section reveals that the period from the 2000s to today is marked by designers who challenge assumptions about who and what African people and African fashions are and can be.

In the second half of the twentieth century, African photographers took advantage of the democratization of photography to create portraits illustrating the euphoria of independence in nations on the brink of self-rule. Africa Fashion showcases their ability to capture those for whom dressing to be seen is a way of life. The images presented in the exhibition bear witness to a constant reinvention of identities, all within an ever-evolving African fashion scene of growing international importance.

Bal Afrikana: A Celebration of Black Creativity and Heritage

At the end of the exhibition, a short recap video showcases the two most recent editions of Bal Afrikana, organized by the Centre culturel afro-canadien de Montreal (CCAM), an associate partner of the exhibition. This 90-second film highlights Montreal’s creative industry talent, featuring work by local Afro-descendent designers.

Dr. Christine Checinska, Senior Curator of African and African Diaspora Textiles and Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum stated:

"Our guiding principle for Africa Fashion is the foregrounding of individual African voices and perspectives. The exhibition presents African fashions as a self-defining art form that reveals the richness and diversity of African histories and cultures. To showcase all fashions across such a vast region would be to attempt the impossible. Instead, Africa Fashion celebrates the vitality and innovation of a selection of fashion creatives, exploring the work of the vanguard in the twentieth century and the creatives at the heart of this eclectic and cosmopolitan scene today. We hope this exhibition will spark a renegotiation of the geography of fashion and become a game-changer for the field."

Anne Eschapasse, the McCord Stewart Museum’s President and CEO, noted:

"We are thrilled to be collaborating for a fifth time with the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum. Both groundbreaking and timely, this is the first international exhibition to celebrate the emergence, influence, ingenuity and unique energy of African fashion creatives. With its outstanding collection and commitment to intercultural dialogue, the McCord Stewart Museum is a leading destination for fashion in Canada, with exhibitions like ELEGANZA: Italian Fashion From 1945 to Today (2016), Balenciaga Master of Couture (2018), Christian Dior (2021) and Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the ‘80s (2021-2022), and jumped at the chance to host the exhibition’s sole Canadian showing. The exhibition will also be an occasion to spotlight the talents of Afro-descendant creatives from our own community, through a partnership with the Montreal Afro-Canadian Cultural Centre (CCAM)."

Production Team

Curatorship: Dr. Christine Checinska, Senior Curator of African and African Diaspora Textiles and Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum
McCord Stewart Museum Curator: Alexis Walker, Associate Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles
Project Management: Eve Martineau, Coordinator, Exhibitions, McCord Stewart Museum
Exhibition Design: Guillaume Kukucka
Graphic Design: Stéfanie Vermeersc 

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

The dedicated internets address of this article or click on the title above the first photo at the top. 

For more information about current exhibitions and special evens associated with this exhibition, visit the McCord Stewart Museum website.