Artists of Lumière 2026

Project Type

Sept 26 Imago (Lucas Morneau)

Lucas Morneau

Imago

Spotlight Project

In-Person

 

Video Imago is a video work that explores the process of metamorphosis as a queer metaphor for coming out. Inspired by a family trip with his nephews to a butterfly atrium in 2026, the video…

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Sept 26 Merrideth MacDonald (Merrideth MacDonald)

Merrideth MacDonald

Merrideth MacDonald

Artist Project

In-Person

 

Merrideth’s collage installation explores the relationship between the flora of Cape Breton and the visiting monarch butterfly population. Just as our plants change through the seasons…

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Sept 26 Unfolding: Root to Tip (Kristi Farrier)

Kristi Farrier

Unfolding: Root to Tip

Spotlight Project

In-Person

 

The illuminated installation, Unfolding: Root to Tip, by artist Kristi Farrier, features the marvellous transformation of flax seed to plant. When planted, flax seeds wait for the right cond…

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Sept 26 METAMORPHIS (Nancy Oakley)

Nancy Oakley

METAMORPHIS

Spotlight Project

In-Person

 

METAMORPHIS series is about Who I am. The people, places and events that made me who I am.

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Sept 26 The Cape Breton Feminist (Chelsey Butts)

Chelsey Butts

The Cape Breton Feminist

Community Project

In-Person

 

DISCIPLINE Participatory installation / community-engaged art What Does Safety Look Like? asks: What does safety look like to you—and whose metamorphosis are we demanding: survivors, or th…

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Sept 26 Face of Nature (Anchor Youth Space Sydney)

Anchor Youth Space Sydney

Face of Nature

Community Project

In-Person

 

Face of Nature is a popup gallery of masks made from found materials by youth and community members exploring the connection between nature and wellbeing.

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Sept 26 Plastic Futures (Sheila Christie)

Sheila Christie

Plastic Futures

Community Project

In-Person

 

What if we treated plastic packaging as a resource instead of trash? Discover the possibilities as you delight in our repurposed plastics puppets. Stop by our interactive station to learn ab…

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Sept 26 Letters to the Universe (Lex Lynn)

Lex Lynn

Letters to the Universe

Community Project

In-Person

 

An interactive literary installation exploring our feelings and experiences with the people,places, and memories that shaped who we are today.

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Sept 26 Where the Kite Lands (Jordan MacIsaac)

Jordan MacIsaac

Where the Kite Lands

Artist Project

In-Person

 

Primary Discipline: Interdisciplinary / Installation; Medium: Multimedia Installation and Social Practice Come see things from a different perspective! At approximately five feet in length,…

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Sept 26 Mirror Image: Teleidoscope (James Garland)

James Garland

Mirror Image: Teleidoscope

Artist Project

In-Person

 

A giant, rotating teleidoscope, resting on a plinth.Guests will be invited to peer through the teleidoscope and “see the festival from a different perspective.”

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Sept 26 Things You Used to Own (Annette MacLellan)

Annette MacLellan

Things You Used to Own

Artist Project

In-Person

 

Things You Used to Own is an interactive installation of objects previously owned by those no longer with us. It explores the complexity of grief through our connection to physical objects.…

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Lumière Arts Festival 2026 // Metamorphosis

Lumière invites artists to explore transformations, growth, and renewal —across beings, identities, societies, and materials – through the lens of artistic expression. In the chrysalis phase, change is unseen, mysterious, and full of possibilities. Artists are invited to create/present works that examine shifts in personal identity, explore adaptation or environmental cycles and the transformation of objects and materials, highlighting not just beginnings or endings, but the unfolding of the process itself.

The Metamorphosis theme delves into the ongoing process of transformation from one life stage to another. Like renewal processes in nature, change unfolds in phases, some visible, and some hidden. How do we hold space for the unknown phases in between growth and reemergence? How do we honour the process of becoming?

In response to an ever changing world, the festival offers a space to reflect on how we adapt, change, and evolve. The festival is a space for collective transformation and activation of unconventional spaces into interactive and imaginative art installations.

Lumière asks: How does art mirror transformations? What guides us forward through unknown processes of becoming? In the glow of shared experience, we celebrate the beauty of metamorphosis, the mystery of the chrysalis, and the endless possibilities of becoming.

Land Acknowledgement

Lumière Arts Festival, on behalf of the board, the artists, and the communities we represent, acknowledges that we work, live and play in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, in Unama’ki Cape Breton, who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.

We are grateful not only for the strong and ongoing stewardship of these lands we call home, but also for the stories, music, and art that Mi’kmaq people continue to create and share, carrying ancestral voices, sacred teachings, and legacies of interconnectedness and resilience forward into the present and on to the future.

We aspire to reflect that sense of connection between past and present in our festival. We are inspired by L’nu artists to foster connection and self-reflection in our work. We will work to ensure that art is accessible, inclusive, and integrated into public spaces so that we can share our collective stories, recognizing the challenges of our past and imagining brighter futures.

We are all Treaty people.