21 Balançoires musical swings by Daily tous les jours, Promenade des Artistes, Quartier des Spectacles, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
21 Balançoires
Daily tous les jours (Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat) · “21 Balançoires (21 Swings)”, interactive musical swings, 2011 · Promenade des Artistes, Quartier des Spectacles, Montréal, Quebec
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia; photographer not named. The studio credits its own project photos to Olivier Blouin on its project page
“21 Balançoires” (21 Swings) was a row of 21 musical swings that the Montréal studio Daily tous les jours, led by Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat, made in 2011 for the Promenade des Artistes in the Quartier des Spectacles. Each swing plays a note, and people who swing together unlock melodies. Planned as a temporary installation, it came back every spring, for the ninth straight year in 2019. In 2022 the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership replaced it with a new installation, “Ville orchestre”.
5 things to know
- Every swing is an instrumentEach swing triggers notes from one of four instruments, piano, guitar, harp or vibraphone, and a colour code shows which one you are on. The studio: “The higher the swing, the higher the note.” Art Public Montréal reported in 2016 that each swing moved some 8,500 times a day. Daily tous les jours · Quartier des Spectacles, 2014 · Art Public Montréal
- A game about cooperationThe studio worked with Luc-Alain Giraldeau, a UQAM professor who studies animal behaviour, and the composer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. Giraldeau, quoted by the studio: “Cooperation emerges when the behaviour of each individual depends on the decisions of the rest of the group: it’s a game where, from the start, you need to adjust to the actions of others.” Daily tous les jours · Quartier des Spectacles, 2014 · Daily Hive
- Made to open a new promenadeAccording to the Institute for Public Art, the City of Montréal commissioned the work through the Quartier des Spectacles to launch the Promenade des Artistes in 2011. The team first explored seesaws, then built on the promenade’s kiosk frames: “The swings mount onto the kiosk frames”. Institute for Public Art
- Temporary, then a spring ritualJacques Primeau, chair of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, said in 2014: “At first, this was supposed to be a temporary installation, but the public’s enthusiasm and the colour the installation adds to the Quartier led to a change of plans”. It ran for a third edition in 2013, from 8 April to 1 June in 2014, and for the ninth straight year in 2019. Quartier des Spectacles, 2014 · Spacing Montreal · WestmountMag.ca
- Replaced in 2022In the summer of 2021 the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership issued a call for proposals to replace “the iconic 21 Balançoires/21 Swings”. The winner, “Ville orchestre” by Robocut Studio, Dpt. and Vallée Duhamel, was announced for the Promenade des Artistes from 21 April 2022, to be shown each spring for five years. Quartier des Spectacles, 2022
Check-in guide
- 📍
- The Promenade des Artistes in the Quartier des Spectacles, “Between De Maisonneuve Blvd. and Président-Kennedy Ave., behind Place des Arts” (Quartier des Spectacles, 2014); the Institute for Public Art describes the strip as on De Maisonneuve between Jeanne-Mance and Saint-Urbain Streets (Institute for Public Art).
- 🧭
- The Maps button opens the middle of the Promenade des Artistes as mapped on OpenStreetMap (45.5090405, -73.5680126) (OpenStreetMap).
- 🎶
- Do not expect to find the 21 swings. Since April 2022 the promenade’s spring installation has been “Ville orchestre” (Quartier des Spectacles, 2022). The studio says a touring version, the Musical Swings, travels to other cities (Daily tous les jours).
Sightings
- 201321 Apr
Spacing photo, 3rd edition
- 201430 Mar
Fourth year announced
- 201614 Apr
Back on the promenade
- 20199 Apr
Daily Hive: returned
- 201919 May
9th straight year
- 202211 Apr
Replaced by “Ville orchestre”
- 20268 Oct
In SAU “Now That’s Clever”
Every stamp links to the dated source. The green stamp is Spacing Montreal’s photo, which the site says was taken on the promenade on 21 April 2013. Amber stamps are announcements and listings. The red stamp is the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership’s release naming “Ville orchestre” as the replacement. The SAU stamp shows the photo above again and says nothing about the site today.
On the record
Photo du jour: 21 Balançoires on ave du Président-Kennedy
“The 21 Balançoires (21 swings) interactive art installation has returned for a 3rd edition to the Quartier des Spectacles and runs until June 2.”
By Martin New. The post gives the location as the Promenade des Artistes on avenue du Président-Kennedy and the date of the photo as 21 April 2013.
21 balançoires will welcome Spring to Montreal
“The 21 Balançoires installation has become a springtime ritual on Promenade des Artistes.”
Press release published on v2com. It announces the fourth year in a row, from 8 April to 1 June 2014, says the 21 swings are lit up at nightfall, and lists the IxDA Best in Show award of January 2013 and the Grand Award of the Shenzhen Design Awards for Young Talents of December 2013.
The 21 Balançoires are back
“A highlight of the Quartier des spectacles, these see-saws have become one of the city’s icons, highly anticipated by Montrealers every spring.”
The Montréal public art portal gives that year’s schedule as 11 April to 29 May and 8 August to 5 September, and credits the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles as its source.
Spring Programming in the Quartier des spectacles
“For the 9th straight year, be part of a unique cooperative musical experience with 21 Balançoires/21 Swings, an interactive installation that’s part street furniture, part playground.”
The listing gives the swings as on the Promenade des Artistes “Until May 28” that year.
A playful new installation opening April 21 in the Quartier des Spectacles
“In the summer of 2021, the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership issued a call for proposals to replace the iconic 21 Balançoires/21 Swings, an installation created by Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat of Daily tous les jours.”
The winning proposal, “Ville orchestre” by Robocut Studio, Dpt. and Vallée Duhamel, was to open on the Promenade des Artistes on 21 April 2022 and be presented each spring for the next five years.
The facts
- Artist
- Daily tous les jours, the Montréal design studio of Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat (Daily tous les jours, Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Art Public Montréal, Quartier des Spectacles, 2022) Checked
- Title
- “21 Balançoires”, in English “21 Swings” (Daily tous les jours, WestmountMag.ca, Daily Hive) Checked
- First shown
- 2011 (Daily tous les jours, Institute for Public Art, Art Public Montréal) Checked
- Made for
- The Promenade des Artistes in the Quartier des Spectacles; the studio says it was created and produced with support from the Quartier des Spectacles (Daily tous les jours, Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Daily Hive) Checked
- Commission
- Commissioned by the City of Montréal through the Quartier des Spectacles to launch the Promenade des Artistes (Institute for Public Art) Reported
- Place
- Promenade des Artistes, between De Maisonneuve Blvd. and Président-Kennedy Ave., behind Place des Arts (Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Institute for Public Art, Spacing Montreal) Checked
- Sound
- Each swing plays piano, guitar, harp or vibraphone, shown by a colour code; the height of the swing sets the note (Daily tous les jours, Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Art Public Montréal). The Institute for Public Art says that at first nine swings played piano, six vibraphone and six guitar, and the harp was added later (Institute for Public Art) Checked
- Team
- Developed with Luc-Alain Giraldeau, animal behaviour professor at UQAM, and composer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Daily tous les jours, Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Daily Hive) Checked
- Seasons
- Returned each spring: a third edition in 2013 until 2 June; 8 April to 1 June 2014; 11 April to 29 May and 8 August to 5 September 2016; the ninth straight year in 2019, until 28 May (Spacing Montreal, Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Art Public Montréal, WestmountMag.ca) Checked
- 2020–2021
- We found no dated report of the swings on the promenade in 2020 or 2021 Unconfirmed
- Awards
- Best in Show and first prize in the Engaging category at the Interaction Design Awards, January 2013; Grand Award of the Shenzhen Design Awards for Young Talents, December 2013 (Quartier des Spectacles, 2014, Daily tous les jours) Checked
- Status
- Gone 2022. The Quartier des Spectacles Partnership called for proposals in the summer of 2021 to replace it, and announced “Ville orchestre” for the Promenade des Artistes from 21 April 2022 (Quartier des Spectacles, 2022) Checked
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Now That’s Clever (9 Photos) (8 October 2026), where the photo above appears as work no. 3.
- The studio’s project page, with credits, awards and the touring Musical Swings. dailytouslesjours.com
- The touring version as “The Swings” at the Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, in 2014. VICE
All sources (10)
This work
- Daily tous les jours: “21 Balançoires (21 Swings)”, the studio’s project page. Created in 2011 for the Quartier des Spectacles; four instruments and colour code; “The higher the swing, the higher the note”; Giraldeau quote; awards; credits, including photos by Olivier Blouin.
- Institute for Public Art: “21 Swings”, case study by Cameron Cartiere. Commissioned by the City of Montréal via the Quartier des Spectacles to launch the Promenade des Artistes in 2011; De Maisonneuve between Jeanne-Mance and Saint-Urbain; mounted on the kiosk frames; eight weeks each spring; original instrument mix.
- Spacing Montreal: “Photo du jour: 21 Balançoires on ave du Président-Kennedy”, 26 April 2013, photo by Martin New taken 21 April 2013. Third edition, until 2 June.
- Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, via v2com: “21 balançoires will welcome Spring to Montreal”, 30 March 2014. Fourth year, 8 April to 1 June 2014; Jacques Primeau quote; awards; Giraldeau and Moumneh; location behind Place des Arts.
- Art Public Montréal: “The 21 Balançoires are back”, 14 April 2016. First installed in 2011; four instruments; some 8,500 movements per swing per day; 2016 schedule.
- Daily Hive: Montreal events, Tuesday April 9, 9 April 2019. Returned “this past weekend”; custom-made for the Promenade des Artistes; Giraldeau and Moumneh.
- WestmountMag.ca: “Spring Programming in the Quartier des spectacles”, 19 May 2019. Ninth straight year, until 28 May.
- Quartier des Spectacles Partnership: “A playful new installation opening April 21 in the Quartier des Spectacles”, 11 April 2022. Call for proposals of summer 2021 to replace 21 Balançoires; “Ville orchestre” opening 21 April 2022, to be shown each spring for five years.
The touring version
- VICE: “Take A Ride On These Glowing, Musical Swings”, 24 July 2014, by Zach Sokol. The swings shown as “The Swings” at the Green Box Arts Festival, Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, after the Quartier des Spectacles.
Map
- OpenStreetMap: Promenade des Artistes, pedestrian way; centre point 45.5090405, -73.5680126 (used for the Maps button).
Artwork File · Last checked 9 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files