Why you should expect to see 'time-travelling' postal workers all over Montreal this summer

That duo in the photo? If you see them in a Montreal park this summer, remain calm. They're just postal workers sent from the future.

Not literally, of course — at least we don't think so — but from May 13 to September 17, they'll be playing the role. They're part of a project called Les Postes du futur, which easily translates to "the post of the future," and it's been developed by art collective Comptoir Public for Neighbourhoods Come Alive for the 375th, a summer festival celebrating the city's anniversary year.

On one level, the project's an elaborate time capsule. Every weekend of the festival, Les Postes du futur will park their "futuristic postal truck" in a different neighbourhood — 19 in total — distributing and collecting postcards that won't be delivered until 2042, stashed away at Pointe-à-Callière Museum until Montreal's 400th anniversary. But the rollout's designed to be a roving installation of sorts, one involving performance, visual art, design and — most importantly — your participation.

What would be the Montreal you would like to live in? Or what do you like or dislike about Montreal right now?- Guillaume Duval, Comptoir Public

To set the scene, there'll be music piped in at every stop — a chill, original score by Mykalle Bielinski. According to Guillaume Duval, one of Comptoir Public's artistic directors, they want to "create a kind of relaxed floating mood." (The future sounds promising already.) And on site, visitors will be greeted by one of their time travelling civil servants — easy to spot in Handmaiden red. Their uniforms are designed by Montreal's Rad Hourani, the first designer to present a unisex collection at Paris Haute Couture — one progressive achievement that gives the project a boost of future-thinking cred.

Visit the truck, and you'll be offered a postcard designed by one of 38 Montreal artists. The full set was revealed to the public today, and Duval says the artists were selected to represent a diverse range of disciplines and communities. Once recruited, they were all given the same creative prompt.

"We asked them the same question that we're going to be asking the public," he says. "What would be the Montreal you would like to live in? Or what do you like or dislike about Montreal right now?"

What people write is up to them — and the same goes for the address they scrawl on the card. You could mail a message to your older self, provided you're still living in the same place — so maybe write a note to the stranger who'll be renting your apartment 25 years from now instead. Write a note to the mayor — or the head of any community service you think might exist in 2042.

"It's open," says Duval, "but at the same time we're going to try to orient the public towards collective issues as opposed to personal matters" — social issues, the environment or even potholes, for example. To guide the conversation, the project recruited 19 public personalities — including astronaut Julie Payette and filmmaker Louise Archambault — to write postcards. Visitors to the Postes du futur truck will be able to skim through their responses for inspiration.

And actually finding the truck is key. It's the only way to get a postcard, for one thing, but as Duval explains, the project is just as much about connecting people in the present, as it is about imagining the future.

"We realized that there's a need right now to open the dialogue and be able to communicate between generations or even between different social groups within the city," he says. Maybe people will stop to send a postcard but stay to talk about what they wrote, sharing their ideas with other visitors. That's the hope, anyway.

"By doing this tour around Montreal, we're going to try to open a dialogue between citizens...and then try to share it with the future citizens," says Duval. "It's going to be interesting to see how things evolve on the 25-year scale."

For one, what if there's no such thing as Canada Post in 2042? "That's a question that we are asking each other," Duval laughs. "Fortunately we have 25 years to think about it."

Les Postes du futur. May 13 to Sept. 17. Part of Neighbourhoods Come Alive for the 375th. Various locations, Montreal. www.375mtl.com