Immersive and interactive offerings at the Phi Centre in Old Montreal are the vision of cultural philanthropist Phoebe Greenberg
In the lobby of the Phi Centre in Old Montreal, the young and the middle-aged, tourists and locals, are lounging on cushions, lending half an eye to a video installation about sexual identities as they relax or chat. Their attention becomes more focused upstairs, where they can experience several VR documentaries on topics as varied as China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and the experience of schizophrenia.
The foundation, which is free , may encourage a casual drop-in, but it’s certainly a high-end gallery experience too. It launched in 2007 as DHC/Art with a show of work by British multimedia artist Marc Quinn. Since then it has devoted exhibitions to the best and the brightest – leading American artists such as Christian Marclay, Jenny Holzer and Bill Viola – and the biggest too: A 2019 Yoko Ono exhibition included the visual art of John Lennon.
Greenberg is passionate about the potential of VR, but also buys contemporary art of the kind you hang on the wall: Examples are dotted around the corridors and offices at Phi. Yet, unlike most other big philanthropic gestures in the visual arts in North America, this institution is not built around a wealthy person’s private collection.Phoebe Greenberg, founder and director of Phi Centre and Foundation in their gallery, in the Phi Centre in Old Montreal on July 12.
Success breeds success, and politicians often reward private-sector achievement with public money: The federal government is contributing $13.3-million to the $100-million budget as is the province of Quebec, rather to the surprise of the Darling Foundry, another contemporary art centre in Old Montreal. A non-profit reliant entirely on grants and fundraising, it has been waiting 13 years for provincial money to do much-needed updates to its old industrial building.
The new development, which is slated to open in 2026, will provide Greenberg’s project with more space – and clearer focus, as most of the public programming will come under one roof and be dubbed Phi Contemporary, while the Phi Centre will remain a studio for technological experimentation. At 58, Greenberg may not be interested in building personal monuments, but she certainly hopes that Phi will outlive her.
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