PHI consists of the PHI Centre, PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, PHI Studio and artist residency programs. PHI also operates an editorial platform, Antenna, to engage with its community.
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The art of tomorrow today
Guided by values that include freedom, generosity, rigour and the importance of community, PHI devotes itself to the innovation and evolution of cultural experiences that both challenge and delight.
The public is as central to art as art is to the public. Aiming for accessibility, PHI connects with a wide and varied set of creative practitioners and audiences through its range of programming, production activities and the many opportunities generated by its initiatives. Engaging with a broad set of perspectives is paramount to PHI, not only as an imperative of our era, but also because it is fundamental to PHI’s mission.
At the intersection of art, cinema, music, design and technology, the PHI Centre strives to push the boundaries of creative production and art consumption through its unique, unclassifiable, engaging and ever-evolving programming.
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The PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art (est. 2007 as DHC/ART) is a non-profit organization dedicated to contemporary art. The PHI Foundation presents major exhibitions, public events, education programs and public engagement initiatives.
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PHI Studio specializes in the production and development of original content, as well as the marketing and distribution of immersive experiences. It is a catalyst for innovation that brings together artists, creators, directors and producers.
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Future-Looking
The world is in perpetual transformation. Without omitting the past experience, PHI is looking to the future and making a lasting commitment to listening to and making space for the next generation of creative practitioners.
Relevance
Attentive to ecosystems, PHI acts as an antenna and contributes significantly to new ways of consuming art. Relevance is applicable in the research and development of both tech and form, contributing significantly to contemporary ways of creating and consuming art and new forms of storytelling. Passionate about participating in global consciousness, PHI takes cues from global concerns, compelling themes, and ideas reflecting our human condition.
Inclusiveness
PHI approaches its work while considering the needs, voices, and points of view of everyone. PHI values lived experience, heritage and difference, seeking to ensure that diverse voices are not only respected, but actively uplifted and included in its discussions through the lens of art.
Dedicated to Quality
The dialogue between art and the public is sacred. The curators at PHI are committed to producing meaningful exhibitions and immersive experiences while respecting, uplifting and contextualizing art, artists and the ideas they cultivate.
Highbrow Punk
At PHI, art is bold, the gesture and creative impulse is unpredictable. Unexpected encounters inform new hybrid ideas. The conversation is always rigorous and impactful.
PHI MUSE
A multidisciplinary arts organization founded in 2016, PHI Muse showcases the unusual aspect of artworks at the junction of art and technology. The organization develops and presents artistic initiatives, immersive installations and educational activities.
Land Acknowledgment
We would like to acknowledge that PHI (the Foundation and the Centre) is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehà:ka Nation is recognized as the custodian of the lands and waters on which we gather today. Tiohtià:ke/Montreal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montréal community.
Sustainability According to PHI
PHI understands that its commitment to sustainability can be its legacy. It is integral to its role as a cultural leader—and its promise to the next generation. It recognizes the three pillars of sustainability—environmental, social and economic, but also proposes that we recognize the importance of both technological and cultural sustainability. Technological and cultural sustainability represent a progressive understanding of the ways in which the world and our values are evolving.
PHI approaches its actions, projects, and policies through a desire to better understand and address the depletion of our natural resources and the urgency of climate change. It aims to bridge the gap between our rational and emotional perspectives in order to foster empathy and prompt collective action towards finding a holistic ecological balance.
PHI recognizes its responsibility as a cultural institution to take authentic and deliberate steps for social and cultural change towards equity, dignity and accessibility for all people. This is reflected in the way it approaches its staff, audiences and programming. Accessibility (physical, sociological and technological) and a commitment to the critical exploration of the human condition are central to its mission, and essential to its creative endeavours.
Though simple in form, the PHI axiom of ‘art as part of everyday life’ is representative of a complex belief system in which art and culture are fundamental to humanness and human connectivity. PHI is committed to creative exchange as a fundamental condition of society, and one that must be supported, nurtured and given safe spaces to thrive. PHI’s fundamental project is to create an infrastructure for creative practitioners, transcultural perspectives, and the relational potential between communities, as a means of supporting the critical sociocultural dialogue that will continue to shape our present and future condition.
PHI’s institutional ecosystem is designed to creatively engage with contemporary forces - including the market economy - in order to support its global mission. It understands that longevity cannot be realized on ideals alone, and thus actively deploys its agility, creativity and diversified platform towards strategically engaging in its marketplaces, as well as new territories of potential in order to ensure a financially sustainable long term future.
Nevermore has the imperative of technology as an integral dimension of our sociocultural lives been so apparent. PHI has explicitly been committed to presenting the bleeding edge of its creative exploration through its PHI Centre and Studio projects, but this as a larger project of questioning, probing and prototyping how its presence and potential might play a role in shaping our society. These explorations underpin the cultural conversation fostered by PHI, but equally the ongoing evolution of its institutional footprint - rapidly (and continually) expanding into the virtual and technological ‘spaces’ of tomorrow.
EXPLORE PHI
The Explore section offers a range of content from essays, videos, articles, interviews, events and more.