Lanterns Lead the Way Through Gardens of Light

As summer turns to fall, the Montreal Botanical Garden celebrates the changing seasons with its annual Gardens of Light show, transforming the natural beauty of the Chinese and Japanese Gardens into illuminated works of art…

Lanterns in the shape of animals, people, boats, plants and more populate the Space for Life’s Botanical Garden, floating in ponds, hanging from trees and lighting up garden pathways from September 5 to November 2. With plenty to look at and admire, the exhibition makes for a perfect evening outing with the family, a romantic date night or simply a lovely way to see yet another side of Montreal.

Stroll through the Chinese Garden to witness a lantern tradition that harkens back to the Han Dynasty and to see colourful, sometimes audacious lantern displays in all shapes and sizes, telling the magical and heroic 15th-century story of “Zheng He – A Voyage of Discovery.”

Meanwhile, the meditative and smaller-scale Japanese Garden hosts an appropriately subtle and artistic lighting and sound exhibition by Québécois artists Jutras Bathalon Bureau d’étude lumière. This year, the garden’s narrow pavilions, paths and bridges also light up with hundreds of origami cranes created by artist Hideko Sinto. While a study in contrasts, in both gardens the natural world meets artistic interpretation and a colourful celebration of the night throughout Montreal’s autumn months.

THE DETAILS

Gardens of Light at the Montreal Botanical Garden, September 5 to November 2, 2014

Photo credit: Susan Moss

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