Presented by the National Film Board of Canada and Quartier des Spectacles and created by Moment Factory, Megaphone invited Montréalers and visitors to gather and explore together the festive side of public speaking. At a time when cities are looking for new ways to bring life to their streets and public spaces, community partners are eagerly collaborating on ideas that are as meaningful as they are fun.

Montréal partners and Moment Factory put this impulse to work by creating an interactive homage to Montréal’s strong history of public words and their contribution to shaping our community and cultural landscape.

To create Megaphone, in the autumn of 2013 we took over the Promenade des Artistes in the heart of Quartier des Spectacles in downtown Montréal with three distinct zones of interactive installation:

First, a public square bordered by animated containers formed a focal point where anyone was invited to speak through the megaphone before a gathered audience.

Second, voice-recognition software designed by the Computer Research Institute of Montreal captured fragments of text from each speaker. These fragments were 3D projection-mapped onto the façade of UQAM’s President-Kennedy building as an evolving visual manifestation that captured the ephemeral and energetic quality of public speech.

Finally, a “speakers’ walk”, incorporating a custom-designed audio-visual setup, extended the length of the promenade.

The installation operates in two distinct modes:
a) Every evening from Wednesday to Saturday, we host live events with themed agendas. b) City Reflection: When the megaphone is inactive, the building reflects the most common words and themes from recent days.

Given the unique shape of the building and our defined visual direction, we couldn't resist creating a dynamic grid to complement this iconic structure. Words will occupy space in the grid based on their frequency of use.

The walk showcased seven key figures who have shaped public space in Montréal with their words. Revisiting these figures brought to mind the potential power of speech in a public forum through historical example.

Altogether, this collaborative work of public art offered a unique interactive experience fuelled by visitors’ own reflections and ideas and helped renew a tradition of public speech in a collective and playful manner.