Garment District all aglow
‘Passage’ exhibit brings bright, interactive art to Midtown this winter
BY DEAN MOSES
The Garment District has
a new, fashionable glow.
The Garment District
Alliance has unveiled their latest
interactive art installation
located on Broadway between
39th and 40th Streets.
Dubbed “Passage,” this communal
art piece is a pedestrian
tunnel comprised of 20 circles
of incandescent light tubes
that emit a variety of swirling
colors as New Yorkers venture
through it.
Revealing the free experience
on Monday evening as the
dusk rolled in, president of the
Garment District Alliance Barbara
A. Blair explained that she
hopes that following the holidays
the installation will light
the way for a happy new year.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The “Passage,” a light art installation, will be on display in
the Garment District until Feb. 13.
“We specifi cally chose January
because it’s after the holiday
season, and everyone has
this sort of collective, you
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES
know, dropping down a few
degrees and so it’s cold and it’s
dark, but the light and the music
is uplifting and it’s just a lot
of fun,” Blair said, adding,” We
want to greet you with a smile.”
“Passage” was designed by
artist Serge Maheu while fabrication
and assembly were developed
by Félix Ménard. The
piece fi rst appeared as Montréal
en Lumière in 2017 in
Canada, and was created for
Illuminart, a circuit that fuses
art, lighting, and technology.
“With Passage, Québec’s
creativity shines on Broadway
for the fi fth year in a row, and
the Garment District Alliance
demonstrates its strong leadership
in presenting world-class
public art that brings life and
culture into public spaces,”
said Martine Hébert, Québec’s
Delegate General in New
York. “Bravo to all involved!”
Several passersby were instantly
taken with the artwork
and took time to not only pass
beneath its kaleidoscopic colors,
but to also take selfi es and
videos with family and friends
despite the harsh cold.
This is not the fi rst installation
in the area. Previous
works have included “Prismatica”
by RAW Design in
collaboration with ATOMIC3,
an immersive art exhibit presented
in 2021 comprised
of multi-colored prisms that
fi lled the plazas with refl ections
and musical sounds and
“Impulse” by Lateral Offi ce
and CS Design, a number of
over-sized, illuminated seesaws
presented in 2020 that
enabled visitors to create their
own light show in the heart of
Midtown.
“Passage” will be available
until Feb. 13.
8 January 20, 2022 Schneps Media