Call for Proposals – 24th International Garden Festival: Roots

The International Garden Festival is launching a call for proposals to select designers to create the new temporary gardens for the Festival’s 24th edition, which will open on June 23, 2023, on the site of Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens.

Building on the success of the past summer, the Festival is seeking projects that explore valorization, and transmission.

Racines / Roots is the theme to which we are inviting designers to respond with their proposals to imagine a present and a future that is ecologically, economically, and culturally responsible by drawing on the teachings of past generations.

With the advent of the digital age, globalization, and the rapid speed of technological advancement that is changing our relationship with time, the physical world, and each other, Racines / Roots rejects the unrooted vision implanted by the industrial revolution to embrace an approach that seeks to be nourished from a common heritage. The theme counters the forces of homogenization that are part of globalization, incorporating the notion of globality coined by the Martinique poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant (1928-2011). It invites a return to what is essential by integrating the use of native plants, and local materials – whether reused or with limited environmental impact. As well as traditional methods of construction combined with a contemporary vision that embraces both regional communities and ecosystems. Racines | Roots intends to challenge the status quo and create innovative human-scale environments. It seeks to transcend generations and disciplines.

The jury for the 2023 Festival will choose five projects from this call for proposals. Designers are welcome to design a garden that can take place in one or other of the axes of the Festival. The artistic and technical committee of the Festival will identify, in collaboration with the designers, the site that will best showcase their project. Designers will 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.

Eligibility of Candidates

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 of the last three editions of the Festival are not eligible for this call for proposals.

Deadline to Submit Proposals

The deadline to submit proposals electronically is Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at 17:00 EST.

All the details are available here.

The International Garden Festival

One of the most important events in North America and one of the leading annual garden festivals in the world. Since 2000, over 1 million visitors have discovered more than 195 contemporary gardens created by designers from 15 countries. The Festival is a unique forum for innovation and experimentation and an exceptional showcase and launching pad for participating designers from a host of disciplines. It provides an annual Rendez-Vous for admirers of contemporary gardens and design. As well as offering a unique space for those involved in the renewal of this art form. This artistic and tourism event also gives visitors a chance to discover inspiring spaces bringing together the arts and architecture.

Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens

are located on the shores of 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 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.