2025 Theme – BORDERS
Borders partition a whole, giving it a value of its own. Tangible without necessarily visible, they mark a distinction of state, nature and materiality. They “separate” digital from analog, inside from outside, garden from expanse, landscape from geography. Sometimes fixed, rigid or more or less hermetic, they can also be porous, ambiguous or multiple. Constantly renegotiated, borders also act as passageways, places of encounter and exchange.
For its 26th edition, the International Garden Festival invites designers from all horizons to rethink the notion of borders in today's post-colonial context, and to transpose their reflections into a garden-environment that blurs disciplines, renegotiates preconceived ideas about the garden/landscape, and actively dialogues with the visitor.
Eligibility of Candidates
The deadline to submit proposals electronically is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2024 at 17:00 EST. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
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, nearly 190 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.
Les Jardins de Métis | Reford Gardens are located on the shores of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers in Québec, Canada. Created from 1926 to 1958 by avid gardener and plant collector, Elsie Reford, the gardens are a national historic site designated. Les Jardins de Métis are considered one of the premier gardens in North America. They are an obligatory stop for all those visiting eastern Québec and the Gaspésie region. Hydro-Québec has been a major partner of the Reford Gardens since 1999.
- 30 -
Source :
Ève De Garie-Lamanque Artistic Director International Garden Festival festival@jardinsdemetis.com