Crowds are invited to learn about crowds at the Musée de la Civilisation

Cassandra Kerwin

cassandra@qctonline.com

Standing in the middle of a crowd, have you ever taken the time to observe it? Are crowds good or bad, safe or dangerous? The latest exhibit at the Musée de la Civilisation (MCQ), Crowds: A Human Laboratory, explores these questions and observations.

Until Aug. 30, 2026, visitors are invited to learn about the fascinating nature of crowds. Discover how they can be manipulated and influenced by individuals both inside and outside. Crowds: A Human Laboratory is designed to challenge the public’s perception of crowds and promote a better understanding of their behaviours.

From the research laboratories of the Max Planck Institute for Human Develop- ment in Germany, scientific curator and researcher Mehdi Moussaïd shared his passion for studying the behaviours of crowds on his YouTube channel, Fouloscopie. Over time, his work led to the creation of the exhibit Crowds: A Human Laboratory, first displayed at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris from October 2022 to May 2024. From there, it crossed the At- lantic to the MCQ, where Mous- saïd tweaked it with a touch of Quebec flair and a nod to the Festival d’Été de Québec.

“It touches me personally to have this exhibit in Quebec because it is at [Université du Québec à Montréal] where it all began for me in 2004,” Moussaïd said in a YouTube video shown at the exhibit’s press conference on Dec. 18. “Crowds are first of all huge gatherings of thousands of people. In some cases, they can be so close together that it can become dangerous. In these situations, we study many things, including fluid mechanics, the spreading of rumours, crowd manipulation and collective emotions, errors and intelligence.” He continued, “I hope you will have as much pleasure in discovering [the exhibit] as we had in designing it.”

The new director general of the MCQ, Julie Lemieux, is of a similar opinion. “Crowds: A Human Laboratory is tailor-made for the MCQ, which loves to cross perspectives, gather, make people think and explore new subjects. It is a true hu- man and living laboratory that offers us a dual experience – experiencing the crowd and extracting ourselves from it to better analyze it and, perhaps, better understand ourselves.”

In this exhibit, visitors can cram into a square metre, step through one of three doors, sing karaoke in public and discover the science behind crowd evacuations, mosh pits, stampedes and much more.

For more information, visit mcq.org.