'There's a lot more history to explore': The new festival illuminating the Exchange District's past

A new festival is lighting up Winnipeg’s Exchange District during the dead of winter with luminous art.

Lights on the Exchange or Allumez le Quartiez is a new, annual light-based arts festival. From Jan. 21 to March 21, nearly 40 different pieces from Canadian artists will begin to pop up on storefronts, rooftops and alleyways in the Exchange District.

Exchange District BIZ executive director David Pensato said the festival arose from conversations with their partners at Artspace, a non-profit arts and cultural community. They wanted to find a way to brighten the sometimes dark winter months.

“The Exchange District is a very popular tourist destination in the summer. We do very well with our historic walking tours. But the buildings, the architecture only tell one part of the story,” Pensato said in an interview with CTV Morning Live Winnipeg.

“There's a lot more history to explore. So, we're working with artists that are telling the stories of more marginalized communities or histories that we don't hear so much about.”

The event is inspired by similar light-based art festivals like Luminothérapie in Montréal and Fête des lumières in Lyon.

Pensato said the pieces here in Winnipeg will explore everything from Indigenous history to the immigrant and refugee experience.

The first eight pieces will debut Saturday and include;

• The Space Between by Taylor McArthur, projection located at 168 Bannatyne Ave
• Kong and Bannatyne by Jaymez, projection at the King and Bannatyne Parking lot
• One night at the 'borough by Derek Bassey at 279 McDermot Ave
• Black Forest Entrancement by Diana Thorneycroft at 93 Albert St (Cordova Tapas & Wine)
• Untitled installation by Nereo Zorro at 492 Main St (Exchange District BIZ office)
• Untitled installation by Karrie McEwan at 185 Bannatyne Ave
• Contra by Reza Rezaï at 441 Main St
• Untitled installation by Marie-France Hollier + Alexis Aurora in the Artspace drayway

The BIZ is also hosting a 1 p.m. matinee screening at Cinematheque of “The Power Was With Us: Idle No More,” followed by a discussion with producers and directors Rick Harp and Tim Fontaine.

Additional works will be released on Feb. 3 and March 3, featuring large-scale lanterns and sculptural light boxes.

Artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Pensato hopes the festival will only flourish from here.

“This weekend is just the beginning of this festival this year, and we see this as being a festival that will grow year over year.”

- With files from CTV's Nicole Dubé