Client

Overview

A participative poetic artwork for the public realm, that combines classical music, dance, sculpture and animation. This multimedia creation brings together traditional art forms with the aim of stimulating enriching encounters.
Lucia takes the form of a pivoting bronze-look sculpture of Lucia, a beautiful dancer from Ravenna, Italy, who embodies light, rhythm and life in the heart of her beloved city.
Following a terrible accident, she lost the use of her body and sank into inertia until the day the entire city decided to erect a structure that would allow her to dance again and pay tribute to her passion for dance, music, light and people. Since then, Lucia shines again and the passers-by make her dance again.
She illuminates squares and cities all over the world and shows the beauty of everyday life, the one that disappears, worn out by habit and routine. The elegance of the beautiful dancer and the light she gives off magnify the places where her tour takes her.
The artwork consists of a giant music box activated by four handles. Above it, an original sculpture rotates when the handles are activated. Six modified street lamps around the sculpture will bring animated light and reproduce a city where the story takes place. As if the visitor were inside the story.

Goals

From the beginning, our goal with this artwork has been to shed light on culture in public spaces and to strengthen the social fabric.
Art has the ability to transform a public space into a stage where the audience is part of the story. That is why we decided to gather a large and amazing team of artists around this work. The fact that Lucia can attract the attention of passers-by, encouraging them to participate and act together, is a way of democratizing access to a cultural offer. Reaching out to the general public beyond the walls of cultural institutions is a way to do experiential marketing for culture, to invite visitors who don't normally go to theaters or museums to get a ticket and get in touch with many forms of art.
Very often, traditional art forms are still presented as something old and of interest to an older audience. We wanted to present traditional art forms (sculpture, classical music, lighting, animation, dance) in a new narrative format that was innovative, intuitive, inviting and inclusive. This approach had a goal that we achieved since the first presentation: it has the power to appeal to both young and older audiences; without regard to social class, building bridges between generations and social structures.

Process

The journey of Lucia is 4.5 years long. Everything started when Anne Lagacé and Gonzalo Soldi (creative director of Mirari), co-creator of the artwork decided to create an artwork inspired by the beauty of the city of Ravenna, Italy. After a very short trip into this city they realized that the light was something very important in this city. Ravenna at night is not the same that during the day, it’s not better, it just has a different charm.
Back in Montreal, after a month of creation they arrived with the idea of writing the tale that would tell the story of the music box, of why it needed to exist. They met Maxime Goulet, the composer of the music. The fit was incredible from the beginning. Then they got in touch with the Symphonic Orchestra of Montreal and for some mysterious reason they accepted not only to participate in the project, but also to contribute with the donation of a segment of 3 hours with the whole orchestra to record the original score.
All the creators were very generous with their time because they didn’t have the financial support to build the artwork till they had a positive answer from the Ministry of Culture of Quebec.

Additional Information

By placing this artistic creation at the heart of an environment, we invite visitors to embark on a journey that not only takes them to Lucia, but also encourages them to explore the hidden treasures of the neighborhood. Free admission and easy access to the works ensure that every visitor can fully immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the place, transforming each visit into an enriching adventure that goes far beyond the artwork itself. This dynamic engages audiences while revitalizing and enriching the social and cultural fabric of the neighborhood. A key element of this initiative is the integration of the artwork into various venues through a cultural outreach campaign, inviting curious minds to delve deeper into the creation of the work and the surrounding cultural offerings. Local musical ensembles will also be invited to perform original pieces during the broadcast, creating a strong link between the audience, the local authorities and the artwork. This project is the pretext for the unusual encounters that unfold before our eyes. During the 145 days of its presentation, Lucia has generated 112,602 interactions in three different cities in Quebec, and this is just the beginning of the tour.