In the 1991 French film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (“The Lovers on the Bridge”), a couple dances over the Seine in front of a spectacular fireworks display. This January, the DesignTO group show “Pot-au-Feu” adopted this scene as its opening credits. The footage played on loop inside the subterranean gallery The Plumb, projected onto a white sheet, with the names of the show’s nearly two dozen Québécois contributors superimposed on top. Throughout the rest of the gallery, each of these cast members added their own creative spark to a downright explosive showcase of furniture, decor and art that formed a welcome bridge from Toronto to la belle province.
Filled with fun material and stylistic juxtapositions — a glass and ceramic floor lamp by Simon Johns evoked Jurassic fossils, while a solid wood dining table by Le Tenon & la Mortaise took inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement — the show demonstrated the full breadth of the francophone design community. “The goal was to take the experience of established designers, but also have the energy of emerging designers, and bring them together so they all push each other,” says Nicholas Sangaré, a co-curator of the exhibition. “But it’s also just to show that we are all family, so we can do something together. We don’t need to just be in these categories.”
“Pot-au-Feu” marked the fourth overall and second Toronto exhibition organized by Ensemble, a collective co-founded by Sangaré (of interior and industrial design outfit Sangaré Studio) and Anaïe Dufresne (of Montreal lighting atelier JETA). The duo’s first group show, also staged at The Plumb, won DesignTO’s “Best Exhibition” award in 2025. Two follow-ups took place back on Ensemble’s home turf last July and November. “We have been so welcomed in Toronto. Ensemble has been a way to open the doors and say, ‘We will come to you, but come to Montreal, too,’” says Dufresne.
Conceived as another taste of Quebec, “Pot-au-Feu” took its name from a French beef stew. “In Montreal, the food scene is really important — we all like to eat, and we have a lot of friends in restaurants,” says Dufresne of the inspiration. “We wanted to make actual pot-au-feu to serve, but we had too much to do.” That said, Ensemble did have some pretty good piquette behind the bar for its opening party. And by the end of DesignTO 2026, the collective had accomplished a rare feat — winning the festival’s “Best Exhibition” award for the second year in a row. Here’s how.
1
Set the Scene
Part of the thrill of an Ensemble production comes from its simple yet dramatic backdrops. “I wanted to make a show with a more elaborated scenography,” says Dufresne, who studied and worked in theatre set design before launching her lighting studio. The Plumb on most days offers a simple pair of white rooms cluttered with pipes. But in “Pot-au-Feu”, stretched swaths of textile transformed one area into the cocoon-like “Nylon Room.”
A neighbouring zone, “Tobacco Room,” became akin to an old chateau smoking parlour, complete with wood panelling and a strong pipe scent supplied by a tobacco bouquet hung in the corner. “We were thinking about a space where the floor creaks,” Dufresne says. The strong moods of each room helped to harmonize the eclectic works on display. “If you take out the scenography, the show is just weird. It’s the only way we can display so many different things together — it’s the link between them.”
Oil and acrylic paintings and video artworks introduced another layer. “My friends from the art world don’t necessarily know about design, and design doesn’t always know a lot about the art scene. But it’s a good thing for everybody to get to talk, maybe for collaboration, but also because it leads a practice in new directions,” says Dufresne. Simon S. Belleau, one of the show’s featured artists, contributed the exhibition’s opening credits video and also handles admin of the @ensssemble Instagram account. This year’s promo posts included clips from Jean-Luc Godard films as well as poetry by Samuel Beckett — effectively welcoming followers into an ongoing cultural salon that demonstrates the merits of multi-disciplinary crossover.
2
Stir Things Up
“Pot-au-Feu” satisfied appetites for edgy, inventive material exploration. Here were a few standout ingredients:
LEFT: Lambert & Fils unveiled new table and floor lamp versions of Kwangho Lee’s Bolda light, some of them accented with gloriously gloopy copper enamelling.
RIGHT: Rubber tables by Atelier Fomenta called to mind a sultry dungeon lair with their slick black finish and studded fasteners.
LEFT: Igor Zigor’s Spiky series of pine wood furniture and accessories embraced charred, scalloped edges.
RIGHT: Pleine Fleur leather lamps by JETA and Studio Séjour had the nonchalant look of a garment worn inside-out, defined by prominent reversed seams.
LEFT: Baby Bong stools by Sangaré Studio paired curved aluminum legs with cushions upholstered in a series of psychedelic textiles.
RIGHT: Alex Joncas debuted a sconce and table lamp, both featuring cast bronze pincers that enclosed a blown glass oyster-like shell with a pearlescent glow.
Meet the Sprawling Ensemble Cast of Quebec’s Booming Design Scene
For the second year in a row, a show staged by the Montreal collective Ensemble (most deservedly) won DesignTO’s “Best Exhibition” award.