The 25th edition of the International Garden Festival, titled The Ecology of Possibility, is now open to the public. On the occasion on its 25th anniversary, Ève De Garie-Lamanque, Artistic Director, invited designers to imagine the future of the garden.
This year’s edition, which will run until October 6, showcases 27 contemporary gardens, including 6 new ones, as well as a permanent installation (Pergola) and 2 extramural projects (FolkFLORE and Repairia / Riparia).
Theme | The Ecology of Possibility It seems to us that the garden today (be it private or public) has a social responsibility. Sustainable, it preserves and supports biodiversity. Plants are rigorously selected after considering the specific needs and behaviours of each species and how they interact. The characteristics of the site to be developed and their evolution over the seasons are also carefully studied. In light of these ideologies and present circumstances, is the future of the garden a united one? Is it based on a relational, cross-disciplinary approach? We would like to wager that the future of the garden will be forged from genuine dialogue with the living.
New Onsite Projects and Gardens Bruissement d’ailes International Garden Festival, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire | France
Couleur Nature Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage | Saint-Lambert, QC, Canada
FUTURE DRIFTS Julia Lines Wilson | United States
Histoires à tisser (standalone installation) Shaza Bazzi, Maëlle Bellemin | Montréal, QC, Canada Collaboration with the UQAM’s DESS en design d’événements program
Pergola (permanent installation) Jérôme Lapierre Architecte | Québec, QC, Canada
Rue Liereman | Organ Man Street Pioniersplanters | Belgium
Superstrata mat-on | Italy
Extramural Projects FolkFLORE LN Paysage, Champ Libre | studio créatif 33rd International Garden Festival, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (France)
Repairia / Riparia Seth Ramesra, Fion Kong, Thi Ngoc Anh, Linjuan Dai with Professor Pete North | Toronto, ON, Canada Closed sand pit (Grand-Métis, Québec) Collaboration with the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design
Discussion Days – Unfolding Possibilities June 22 and 23, the Discussion Days launched the Festival’s anniversary program. The event was attended by our guest of honor, Chantal Colleu-Dumond, General and Artistic Director of the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire and its International Garden Festival, as well as 10 designers from Canada, Belgium, the United States, France and Italy.
Over the course of the weekend, 60 researchers, professionals, committed citizens, elected officials and artists joined them to discuss the future of the garden.
Read the Discussion Days’ full program (in French).
Collaborations with the Academic Community A unique forum for innovation and experimentation, for its 25th anniversary edition, the International Garden Festival also marks 25 years of ongoing commitment to supporting advanced research and education in landscape and architecture-related disciplines. Since its inception, the Festival strives to develop strong partnerships with the academic community and to offer numerous professionalization opportunities both to students and recent graduates. This year, 3 group of students will have the opportunity to design, build and then exhibit an installation or experimental garden echoing the theme of The Ecology of Possibility:
- Students participating in the University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design’s LAN 3800 Design/Build Summer Studio (instructor: Pete North, Assistant Professor); - Students enroled in the Université de Montréal’s Atelier d’été aux Jardins de Métis de l’École d’urbanisme et d’architecture de paysage (instructor: Emile Forest, Guest Lecturer); - Students pursuing a DESS en design d’événements at UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) under the supervision of Céline Poisson, Program Director and Professor.
About the International Garden Festival Created at the turn of the new millennium by Marie-Josée Lacroix, Denis Lemieux, Philippe Poullaouec-Gonidec and Alexander Reford, the International Garden Festival is recognized as one of the most important contemporary garden festivals in North America. Since its inception in 2000, more than 180 contemporary gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extramural projects in Canada and around the world. Presented at Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula, the Festival is held on a site adjacent to the historic gardens created by Elsie Reford, thereby establishing a bridge between history and modernity, and a dialogue between conservation, tradition and innovation.
Each year the Festival exhibits over 20 conceptual gardens created by more than 70 landscape architects, architects and designers from various disciplines. Over the years, the Festival has received numerous distinctions, including the Hector-Fabre Award (2007), given out every two years by the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie to an organization that has contributed to the international renown of its region.
About the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens A National Historic Site of Canada and a Quebec heritage site, Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens is a must-see stop for anyone visiting the Gaspé and the Lower St. Lawrence. A cultural space and tourist destination for 60 years, the gardens are an iconic landscape that offers visitors experiences for all of the senses and opportunities to connect to nature. Located at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers, they were designed by the adventurous horticulturist Elsie Reford from 1926 to 1958 and are recognized as one of the top gardens of America and rank among the great gardens of the world. Close to 60,000 people visited the Gardens in 2023. Hydro-Québec has been the lead sponsor of Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens since 1999.
Our Partners The International Garden Festival acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the RBC Foundation, Fondation Ariane Riou et Réal Plourde, National Trust Canada, Canada Summer Jobs, Emploi-Québec and the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec.
Main partner of our anniversary program, Premier Tech sponsors the Discussion Days, as well as the FolkFLORE and Bruissement d’ailes gardens. The Québec-France bilateral exchange project received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie, the Délégation générale du Québec à Paris and the Consulat général de France à Québec. The Festival also acknowledges the support of the MRC de La Mitis, La Maison Alcan and Mallette.
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