To commemorate its 135th anniversary, Birks, the leading Canadian jeweller, recently announced its support for honey bee conservation, which will ensure a quality environment and the conservation of our ecosystem. As part of this initiative, Birks invited a Montreal artist, Laurent Lamarche, to design and create an urban beehive that is both functional and artistic. Today, Birks is unveiling Lamarche’s work, which is on display at its Montreal flagship store on Phillips Square.

Birks chose Laurent Lamarche, a sculptor with public works of art attributed to his name, to create an original piece. Lamarche’s approach is a dialogue between nature and artifice, a combination of art and science. Accordingly, he has created for Birks a dynamic, illuminated piece that also houses a working beehive.

“Visual art is a great way to draw attention to important issues like bee preservation,” said Lamarche.

The artwork is made up of 10 sheets of plexiglass that represent the internal sections of a beehive. The designs in the plexiglass are inspired by Birks symbols and give a sense of constant movement that is amplified by the continuously changing lights. The effect mimics the incessant motion inside a hive, where bees never stop moving or working. The beehive was designed for outdoor use and can accommodate up to three bee colonies.

“The piece by Laurent Lamarche will be on display in Montreal until the fall, when we’ll be putting it up for sale to raise money for the Honey Bee Research Centre at the University of Guelph in Ontario,” said Eva Hartling, Vice President of Marketing at Birks Group Inc.

See below for more images of the amazing and beautiful piece Laurent Lamarche has constructed for Birks.