Christie Digital Partners with the Urban Digital Laboratory of the Quartier des Spectacles

MONTREAL — The Quartier des Spectacles Partnership announced its collaboration with Christie Digital System on June 10, 2015. The relationship involves the supply of projection equipment for the Urban Digital Laboratory (UDL), which presents digital works in the Quartier des Spectacles. The arrangement makes the California-based company, whose Canadian headquarters is in Kitchener, Ontario, the UDL’s official major partner.

More details from Christie Digital System (www.christiedigital.com):

The strategic alliance strengthens the efforts of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership to position Montréal as one of the world’s largest digital creative laboratories and a leader in the presentation of public architectural video projections. Christie will provide essential equipment for presenting video projections at the Quartier’s nine permanent projection sites, and the Partnership will give the company access to its technology infrastructure for research and development purposes. The partnership between the two organizations will continue until 2017. The collaboration complements the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership’s efforts and the investments of the Ville de Montréal in the UDL, which allows creators to focus on creating artistic content, while also serving as a laboratory for research and development in digital technology, a key area of activity in Montréal.

“The UDL, enhanced by this important collaboration with Christie, opens significant development potential and new types of public services that can transform residents’ relationship with the city. In addition to being a major downtown revitalization project, the Quartier des Spectacles can now become a launching pad for new technologies related to public space, and participate in enhancing Montréal’s international profile,” said Jacques Primeau, chair of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership’s board of directors.

For Christie, the association with the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership represents an important opportunity to showcase its cutting-edge technology for a key audience of event producers and exhibitors and other companies in the digital industry. “From our perspective, the Urban Digital Laboratory is an example of excellence and innovation in digital creation, as well as having strong technological development potential. We see these as initiatives that enrich the dynamic of smart cities, and we believe deeply in that approach,” said Christie’s Vice President of Global Accounts, Zoran Veselic.

“I applaud this partnership with Christie. It is a symbol of the exceptional, innovative work the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and the Ville de Montréal are doing with the Urban Digital Laboratory. This partnership will allow Montréal and its digital creators to benefit from significant expertise that will support future innovations, because it will help Montréal’s creators to push the envelope in their work,” added Manon Gauthier, the Ville de Montréal’s Executive Committee member in charge of culture, heritage, design, Space for Life and the status of women.