News

 

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In the wake of the triennial thematic cycle initiated a year ago, Mapping Sensitivity pursues an ongoing reflection on the poetics of space – namely, how we relate to our physical surroundings and, more broadly, to the world. While Borders focused on the challenges of organising and representing geographical space, immediately raising geopolitical concerns, the theme of this 27^th edition takes the tournant sensible [“the sensitive turn”].

 

It draws its inspiration from sensitive mapping, which, far more than a simple alternative to traditional cartography, is distinguished by its consideration of the subjective and immaterial dimensions of a place. Sensitive mapping thus traces the shared representations of a space that is described, lived and felt. It considers the real experience that users have of a given space and the emotional relationship they develop with it, considering cultural, phenomenological, experiential, cognitive and contextual factors.

 

For its 27^th edition, the International Garden Festival invites designers from all backgrounds to design a garden using a sensitive, fundamentally inclusive and relational approach. At once real and fantasized, this garden will take on its full meaning thanks to the users who frequent it, shaping it in turn.

 

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This call for proposals is open to all landscape architects, architects, visual artists and multidisciplinary teams from Canada and abroad. The Festival encourages participants to form multidisciplinary teams. Applicants are limited to one proposal, either as individuals or as a team. Participants can be from a single city or country or cross international boundaries. 

 

Designers are invited to design a garden that can take place in one or other of the axes of the Festival. The artistic and technical committees of the Festival will identify, in collaboration with the designers, the site that will best showcase their project. Designers will be asked to imagine their garden for exhibition for at least two summers and to propose strategies for the repurposing or recycling of the garden or its materials after the end of its exhibition. 

 

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The deadline to submit proposals electronically is MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2025 at 17:00 EST. 

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted. 

Consult the call guidelines, register and submit your proposal here.

 

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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, 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. 

 

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.

 

 

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Ève De Garie-Lamanque

Artistic Director

International Garden Festival | Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens

festival@jardinsdemetis.com