About
Quatre-quarts [katkar] or [katʁəkaʁ], noun. An innovative three-year project established by the Théâtre des Petites Lanternes, in collaboration with LaboKracBoom, the Maison des arts de la parole, and the Société d’histoire de Sherbrooke, designed to tell the story of four micro-neighbourhoods in downtown Sherbrooke.
Quatre-Quarts is an interactive, immersive theatre experience that invites spectators to discover the faces and stories of yesterday and today, over three years, and to imagine the futures of four micro-neighbourhoods in downtown Sherbrooke, which we’ve named ourselves. During the first year, 2018, the project went through several stages of research, creation and public engagement in the Quartier Alexandre, Quartier des Musées, Quartier de la Création, and Quartier de la Cathédrale. The second year, 2019, presented street parties inspired by the first year’s walking tours, and it will all be wrapped up in the third and final year, 2020, via a promenade theatre show in Sherbrooke town-centre. Quatre-Quarts is created by the Théâtre des Petites Lanternes in collaboration with its partners, LaboKracBoom, the Maison des arts de la parole and the Société d’histoire de Sherbrooke. It is funded by Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the City of Sherbrooke, the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications and the Ministre des relations internationales.
Street parties, 2019
The second year of Quatre-Quarts gave way to 4 Street Parties inspired by the Promenades-Jasettes du Centro (Walks and Talks) that took place in 2018. These parties were intended to highlight and introduce each neighborhood’s contribution to Sherbrooke’s town-centre and its citizens. Throughout the year, we thus discovered the colors, sounds, flavors and stories of these distinct neighborhoods.
The Promenades-Jasettes also gave birth to Quatre-Cartes (neighborhood maps)* of the different districts. These maps include suggested walks and quirky anecdotes so you can enjoy the town centre in a variety of ways!
* Illustration by Annie Deslongschamp
Quartier de la Cathédrale
The theme is this neigborhood was Duality where we celebrated both the contemporary and the historical, where drag performance flirted with the ecclesiastical art and which all ended in a battle of (fake) snowballs! This took place at the Basilique-cathédrale Saint-Michel and it was the last of our street parties.
Quartier des Musées
Strangeness was the theme in the spotlight at the former Winter Prison park. This neighborhood immersed itself in both an intellectual yet murky atmosphere creating an intriguing mix! Tango, music, stories and a masked ball were on the program. Many of you sipped your beer or chai tea to the sound of bewitching tango music that warmed our spirits on a frisky Autumn evening.
Quartier Alexandre
This was the first of the street parties and it celebrated its uniqueness in style. A lot of businesses on Alexandre street opened their doors and participated in the festivities. Then, the courtyard of the École Sacré-Coeur became a coloring book during the Chalkfest - Chalk Contest. With the addition of circus arts workshops, circus performances as well as a fashion show, the Petit Canada park offered a creative and friendly afternoon to all participants.
Quartier de la Création
As part of this celebration, at the one-off Éphémère park on Wellington Street, we created an artistic discovery trail called the Balades des 5 sens (the 5 Senses Trail), which allowed participants to discover new areas of the neighborhood. Those who dared had the chance to experience something strange, beautiful and wonderfully wacky.
Les promenades-jasettes du centro, 2018
Les Promenades-Jasettes du Centro were part of the first year of the Quatre-Quarts project. The artists behind the project wanted to explore your city centre. What are your favourite corners, parks, spots and views? Which shops, bars and cafés do you / have you / would you like to frequent? Do you know the city centre as a resident? Neighbour? Worker? Admirer? Visitor? What are the stories that make this city centre yours? A promenade-jasette is an intimate walking-talking tour where you take one of the project’s artists or historians to discover your reality in one of the four neighbourhoods of downtown Sherbrooke. Les Promenades-Jasettes du Centro was for anyone who wanted to share their experience with us in one of the downtown areas. Whether you have known downtown Sherbrooke for 2 weeks, 2 months or 20 years, you all had a story to tell! The artists have been inspired by the content of these walks for the second year of the project (street parties).
Les Promenades-Jasettes du Centro are now over, but please stay connected to see the next steps of the project!
With artists and historians Cyril Assathiany, Simon Durocher-Gosselin, Bruno Gagnon, Marie-Ève Gingras, Michel Harnois, Kristelle Holliday, Élise Legrand, Marie Lupien-Durocher and Angèle Séguin.
The Quartier des Musées
De Montréal Street, Belvèdere North, the river, Frontenac East
The city centre is a peninsula, and the Quartier des Musées is at its point. A cultural crossroads, a linguistic portal, a rich heritage, an industrious past, a cultural movement, and infinite wisdom. The Quartier des Musées is home to our roots, it amplifies our knowledge, and serves as a protective spirit: the Cerberus of our history, the sentinel of our intellect, watchman of our veterans, defender of our culture and caretaker of our citizens. How does this museum quarter, the ultimate shepherd, guide us along life’s path, at once celebrating our individuality and fostering a sense of community?
The Cakes
Being foodies at heart, we’re always filling up on the joy that surrounds words, stories, encounters and flavours. For the Quatre-Quarts project (since a quatre-quarts is a pound cake in French) it wasn’t a choice; we had to create cakes to go with the research and exploration phase! Thanks to our four magnificent partners, Folle Théière, Lupa, Les Vraies Richesses and Café Général, we have four different pound cakes—a flavour for each micro-neighbourhood. On each walk, you had the chance to taste one of these creations. Click on the photos to learn more.
